


Find This Place Again

by MysticMoonhigh



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora discovers her sexuality, Angst, BDSM, Banter, Bondage, Canon Divergence, Canon Divergent, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Jokes, Lesbian Sex, Nostalgia, Oral, as far as warnings go I chose not to use archive warnings, memories in the horde, there is a reason for that but it will be explained/easy to skip that scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:40:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 35,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18324314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticMoonhigh/pseuds/MysticMoonhigh
Summary: When Catra and Adora walk through a portal and onto an abandoned first ones' planet, they quickly realize that working together is their best option if they want to get home safely. Rising emotions and the allure of familiarity lead them into dangerous territory. Beneath it all simmers the question; Can they rekindle what they've lost on opposite sides of a war?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is already finished, I'm just gonna upload a chapter every few days until it's posted.  
> I wanted to explain the potential trigger in more detail inside, so if you're easily triggered read this explanation beforehand:  
> (Spoiler alert) Adora does have a sexual fantasy in this fic where consent isn't established first. This is because, since it is literally Adora's fantasy, dream Catra doesn't need to ask consent in this scenerio. Adora's fantasy also involves elements of control and submission, so I felt it wouldn't make situational sense for fantasy-Catra to pause and ask for consent. Again, this takes place in the land of fantasy, and both fantasy Catra and Adora enjoy it very much I can assure you.  
> BUT if this will trigger you, you can either not read this fic, or skip the scene when it comes up. It'll be italicized and I'll let the reader know it's coming beforehand <3

Adora wasn’t sure  _ why _ she felt drawn to the temple. The moon’s glow danced against the water in the creek to her left. She could hear crickets chirping softly as she tip-toed through the dewy grass. The moon shone above her, reflecting off of her sword. She just knew that she needed to get there, and it was  _ not _ a place she wanted to take someone else.  

Not after last time, not after what happened with Catra. 

She reached the edge of the woods and paused, glancing back towards Brightmoon. She had a small bag full of essentials- a couple of days of food, water, a blanket, and other essential survival tools. She hoped she wouldn’t need them, but it was hard to tell when the whispering woods were involved. 

_ I’m sure it’s nothing, _ she reassured herself,  _ a squirrel probably ran up the side and triggered some kind of trap. _

She was sure she’s be back by morning. 

~~~

The sun was already coming up by the time she got to the temple. Thorns were tangled in her hair and her left arm was covered in what she could only assume was poison oak rash (it  _ burned _ ). She busted through the bushes and into the clearing, eyes drifting up the temple. There, at the top, she saw movement. A very…  _ cat-like _ movement. 

Okay, so not a squirrel. This was much, much worse. 

She didn’t want to rush into this; she had the element of surprise right now, and losing that would be foolish. With that in mind, she began her journey upwards. 

This temple in particular was surrounded by boulders, held into place by flimsy ivy crawling towards the top. It was useful. Adora could grab ahold of the vines and  _ carefully _ pull herself up. 

A gust of wind blew her hair to the side and she made the mistake of looking down. She felt like she’d only been a few feet off the ground, but she could see that she was wrong. She had to be at  _ least _ two stories up, and the vines she was holding now made small little snapping sounds in protest. 

She turned back up. She  _ had _ to make it to the top, couldn’t think about falling down right now. 

It wasn’t long before her legs were shaking and sweat was making its way down her face in little droplets. She gritted her teeth, the edge of the cliff  _ just _ out of her reach. One more step, one more…

She heard a sharp snapping sound coming from her left, and suddenly her grip was  _ gone _ . She whipped her head around, which only threw her balance further off. Rookie mistake. Her legs turned as she attempted to throw herself into the cliff, scrabbling for traction, her heart pounding as she felt her feet slip out from under her, until-

Something warm was holding onto her hand. She looked up, feeling helpless as she dangled over the edge. 

“Hey Adora.” 

She blinked. “Oh, uh, funny seeing you here.”

Catra looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m sure it is.” She rolled her eyes at Adora’s lie. “Are you gonna climb up, or am I going to keep holding your hand all day?”

Adora found purchase on the rock again and used Catra’s grip to hoist herself up and over the edge. 

When she was standing on  _ sweet, sweet grass _ again, she looked up at Catra, a question unspoken between them. 

“This is  _ not _ because I like you.” Catra clarified. “I just need you to open the temple. Otherwise, I would have let you fall.”

“Oh, sure you would.” Adora responded. Her sarcasm was fake, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She didn’t want to stop teasing Catra; this was how they worked. But she knew that Catra wasn’t lying. She knew that she would throw her right off this cliff and watch her fall to the rocks below. She’d done it once already. 

At a very similar temple, in fact. 

“Alright, let’s head inside.” Catra said, waving Adora forward. She glanced back over her shoulder. “You owe me one now.”

Adora hadn’t even realized that Catra had started walking. She shook her head to clear it and jogged a few steps to catch up.  _ Be on alert! Snap out of it! She’s the enemy! _

“Soooo…” Adora started, glancing at the temple entrance. This one was different than the other temples she had found; this door was on top of it. She wondered if this was some kind of docking bay for… flying machines, maybe? “Whaaaat are you here for? No offense, I’d just like to establish you aren’t trying to bring about my friends’ doom. I don’t think the one that I owe you covers all of Brightmoon.”

Catra turned to her, looking mildly annoyed. “Nooooo, of course not! I’m gathering supplies so Entrapta can make a first-ones coffee maker.”

“I don’t appreciate the sarcasm.” Adora said. 

The mention of Entrapta made her flinch. The joy when the Princess Alliance had found out that she was still alive had been short lived- exactly four seconds lived, to be exact. That was when she had pushed the button and unleashed her army of hell-bots into the fight. She was a  _ traitor _ . And Adora knew that Catra had personally seen to that. 

Catra motioned to the door, and Adora stepped forward. As much as she didn’t want to be doing this, she knew that Catra would find a way in anyhow. And it would be safer if Adora was there with her. 

As much resentment as Adora felt for her now, she still didn’t want Catra dead. She could never want her gone. 

She stepped forward, the pebbles stabbing into the soles of her shoes as she lifted her sword up. A word, a blinding flash of light, and the ground that they were standing on shook beneath them. Adora lowered her stance, finding her balance as the doors slid open. 

“Knock, knock.” Catra purred, sauntering forward. Her footsteps echoed down the darkened hall, and the lights flickered on. Adora walked in behind her.

Cobwebs collected dust in the corners of the hallway. The echos were deafening; Adora wondered whether or not  _ anyone _ had stepped here before, but quickly brushed it off. That was ridiculous. This place was just  _ creepy _ . 

“Seriously, Catra. How did you find this place?” She asked. 

“I… genuinely don’t know.” Catra admitted. “I was looking for a small artefact when this place kinda just… popped up. I got curious.”

“So you  _ don’t _ have an evil plan?” Adora asked, hopefully. 

“Adora, Adora, so black and white.” She said, playfully. “I do have a plan.”

“Why do I still not like the sound of that?” Adora asked. 

Catra took another step forward and suddenly, a bright flash of light came from all sides. When Adora opened her eyes, they were in a  _ much _ more spacious room. They stood in front of a large, circular contraption with wires coming out, cascading onto the floor in puddles. Electricity cackled, and Catra gave a small shout. 

Her hair was standing straight up, at attention. 

“What just happened?” She demanded. Adora shrugged. 

“Why should I know?”

“You know more about this stuff than anyone else!” 

The walls were a pink-to-blue gradient, lacking the hard lines that some of the other first ones interior had. There was a large screen straight in front of them, and the usual maze of rooms to their sides. A bright blue hologram flickered to life in front of them, this one a rounded ball of light rather than a fully-formed person. 

“Light… Hope?” Adora asked, her eyebrows pushing together. This seemed… less advanced than she had come to expect. 

“I am Light Faith, Light Hope’s original programming.” The voice echoed through the chamber. “What is your inquiry, Administrator She-Ra?”

“Um,” Adora glanced at Catra, and Catra made a face of confusion and urgency that helped the situation exactly zero percent. She turned back to Light Faith. “What is this place?”

“You are at Landing Location Four.”

Landing… Location. Landing location.  _ Landing. Location _ . Was this… 

“This is the least advanced first-ones tech I’ve ever seen.” Catra commented. Adora turned with the voice, noting that Catra had moved without her realizing. Now, she leaned over the flickering wires, her tail swishing back and forth curiously. “I wonder what would happen if…”

“Catra, no!” 

But it was too late. Adora braced herself for the smell of burning fur. 

Catra leaned over, her claws delicately extended to reconnect a broken shard of wire. That was apparently the straw that had broken the camel’s back, because the large machine whirred to life, flickering. 

One by one, too fast for them to do anything to stop it, the doorways around them shut. Catra sheepishly turned to Adora as the last one slid to a close. 

“Umm, oops?”

“Yeah, oops.” Adora responded, flatly. 

“Welcome, travelers.” Light Faith interrupted, her voice lighter, more scripted. It was like Catra had hit the reset button on the conversation.“It is time to go back home. Please make your way through the portal.” 

Adora took a quick glance around. It didn’t look like there was any other way out. And, even though she didn’t want to admit it, her curiosity had always made her a little bit reckless. The chance to see the home of the first ones (if that was indeed what this was) was more than a little tempting.

“If they have a way to get there, they probably have a way to get back.” Catra piped up, mimicking Adora’s own thoughts. 

“Well,” Adora said, feigning reluctance. “I guess checking it out couldn’t hurt.”

Besides, she had Catra with her, which meant that anything they found on the other side, they would face together. 

Deep, deep down, Adora wanted to be on the same side as her friend again. Even if it was only for a little while. 

“After you.” Catra insisted, gesturing forward. Adora rolled her eyes, but she stepped up, approaching the light. She closed her eyes, braced herself for whatever might be on the other side, and stepped through the portal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE leave a comment or kudos!  
> Also, if you'd like to keep up with my original writing adventures, you can follow my writing blog @Carterrowanne on tumblr. I plan to write a YA novel over the summer and then publish it on wattpad, so it would be free to access! I also might start an email list soon.


	2. Chapter Two

Catra watched as Adora disappeared into the swirling vortex of blinding light.  _ What is with the first ones and damaging my eyesight? _

She took a moment, waiting to see if Adora would send her back some kind of signal. After a few seconds, it became clear that there would be no such communication. She shrugged and hoped it wasn’t like, a trick portal into the  _ sun _ or something, because that would be her luck. She walked through it anyways. 

It took her a couple of seconds to adjust to reality once her feet were planted on the other side. 

She heard a whirring, and a flickering, and the light radiating from behind her shut off. She turned to see a similar portal behind, and knew it was connected to the one back home. She turned around, admiring the room. It had clearly been well-built to survive for this long, but it did not completely lack signs of age. The walls were crumbling in some places, paint scraped off, the computer panel before them was cracked. Temperature control wasn’t working, which meant that it was  _ hot as balls _ in here. 

“Ugh.” Catra complained, “I’m going to be  _ dripping _ sweat before this is over, aren’t I?”

Adora ignored her comment, spinning in slow circles as she gazed towards the top of the room, her eyes sparkling in wonder. Through the top of the glass Catra could see a canopy of leaves stretching above them. 

“Those trees must be a hundred feet tall!” Adora said, amazement in her voice. 

“Or we’re underground.” Catra pointed out, flatly. God, how had she put up with this for so long? Adora was getting all jazzed for some stupid  _ trees _ . “Can we focus? We’re supposed to be looking at the first ones tech!”

Catra turned her gaze back to the broken computer screen on the other side of the room. She made her way over, tail flicking as she locked onto her target. There, she could see it! There was a circular gem in the left hand side of the console. It looked suspiciously like the chip that Entrapta had practically nutted over. 

“I think this is a computer chip.” Catra pointed out, gently pulling at it with her claws. She would be terrified of this if she had ever once learned a lesson once in her life. 

“Catra, it might be booby-” Adora cut off as a siren began to wail, the lighting in the room flickering to an eerie red.

“Heh,” Catra grinned, “You said booby.”

“Oh my  _ God _ .” Adora shrieked. “We do  _ not _ have  _ time _ for this!”

Adora rushed her then, and Catra had almost forgotten how much taller she was as She-ra. But her ex-friend was standing over her, taller and mildly glowing, and firmly gripped her arm, pulling her to the right. Catra fought the urge to pull free of Adora’s grasp, knowing that she had a better chance of getting out of here with Adora’s help. 

“Shouldn’t we head back to the portal?” Catra asked, pointing back towards the middle of the room. 

“It’s  _ off! _ ” Adora responded. The temple began to shake, and Catra could see the doors around them closing one by one. 

Okay, yeah. So  _ maybe _ she didn’t think this through. 

Adora pulled her through one of the doors, ducking under it. The tip of Catra’s ear barely grazed the stone as it shut, and suddenly, they were standing in darkness. 

“Adora?”

The glow from her sword lit up the hallway. All around them they could hear mechanics whirring, stuttering, trying to start up before shutting back down again. Catra’s ears were perked straight up as she repositioned them, straining to hear deeper into the temple. 

Adora said what she was thinking before she could. Adora had always seemed good at that. 

“I think that it’s running out of power.” 

“I mean, at least this means no giant mechanical bugs of death?” Catra pointed out, allowing her ears to relax as the temple gave one final stutter. She smelled smoke, and hoped that that wasn’t a sign of fire.

“It also means no portal home.” Adora responded. 

“C’mon, I’m sure we’ll find something.” Catra responded. She wasn’t all that worried. After all, she  _ was _ with the great and powerful She-ra. Nothing  _ ever _ went wrong for Adora. It was part of what made being around her so  _ annoyingly _ comforting. 

~~~

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s working.”

“You think I don’t SEE that?!” Catra responded, attempting to pry the door open yet again. She was squatting down, pulling up as her shoulder muscles protested and her fingers shook. They had made it through most of the temple without incident, but they couldn’t get this damn door to come unlatched. Adora had tried playing nice with it. Catra pulled harder, ignoring her muscles shaking.

“Maybe we should try it together?” Adora suggested. Catra felt a pang of resentment and she fought the urge to hiss. 

“I can do things  _ without  _ you, you know.” She spat. 

With a final pull, the door budged upwards. Catra felt her fingertips scrape against the rough material; they had definitely improved their designs when they moved planets. She let go, stepping back and heaving in great gulps of air as her lungs burned. Her ear twitched in annoyance. 

“Good job.” Adora said, sarcastically. “Your fingers are bleeding. Say, Catra, when you bring back some kind of infection from an alien planet, will you tell Hordak it was because you were too stubborn to ask for help?”

“I will tell him that it was because you wanted to waste time arguing instead of going outside.” She gestured towards the barely-person-sized crack in the door. “After you.”

Adora slid forward smoothly and made her way through the crack, grumbling something about a pattern developing. Catra wasted no time in following her. 

Once they were outside, the moist air began to sink through Catra’s fur. She looked up, unable to help herself from feeling at least a  _ little _ bit of amazement. 

Her and Adora had both been a little right; they  _ had _ been underground in that chamber, but the trees were monumental regardless. The leaves curled in on themselves, a cool rainbow of greens and blues and purples radiating out from their centers. Catra could see big, fat water droplets in the canopy above, and she made a note that finding an umbrella was priority number one. 

“Whooooaaaaa,” Adora said. Catra looked over to find stars twinkling in her eyes. 

She decided to ruin that. 

“Hey look,” She pointed out, “That bird just shit on the temple.”

Adora turned and gave her a  _ look _ , to which Catra shrugged sheepishly. It  _ did _ serve its intended purpose, though. Adora was out of her girl-like wonder trance and had come back to reality. 

“Okay,” Adora said, looking around. “I think the best thing to do would be to check around the temple for some kind of transportation. We’re here, we might as well see if we can find anyone else. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not walk around this planet on foot.”

“Who died and made you queen?” Catra mumbled. But even as she said it, she was turning in the opposite direction. She didn’t want to listen to Adora, but she was smart enough to know that Adora was right. “Alright, I’m doing it. But not because you told me to.”

“Alright, Catra.”

Catra jumped up, working her way around the side of the temple. 

It wasn’t long before she came across something peculiar. It was separate from the temple, but still connected through a thin cord that Catra assumed was a charger. 

“ADORA!” she shouted, “I FOUND SOMETHING WEIRD!”

It didn’t take long before Adora was coming around the temple, more dirt in her hair than there had been before. Catra took a moment to admire her frazzled state; Adora did not mesh well with nature, and it was frankly amusing. 

“Where is it?” 

Catra pointed towards the large rectangle. There were thin rods heading upwards and ending in little circular covers. “You should be able to read the writing, oh great and noble She-ra.”

Adora blushed, and Catra felt a sense of smug satisfaction. 

Adora leaned down, her eyes scanning the inscription as her fingers trailed along the grooves. She squinted, and Catra considered making a joke about how reading is hard for every beginner, but decided that she’d be overdoing it. (Plus, it’d be pretty hypocritical. It took her four years to learn to read thanks to Shadow Weaver’s wonderful teaching methods and a nasty case of dyslexia). 

“This isn’t for transportation.” Adora said, slowly. “This is the power source. See these letters?”

“No, I’ve suddenly lost the ability.”

“They’re supposed to be glowing.” Adora said, ignoring her sarcasm. There was no hint of playfulness in her voice; just the genuine lack of acknowledgement that Catra had become used to from her. Adora just didn’t really care about her anymore.

No matter what she said. 

“Soooo…. There’s no power to the temple.” Catra said, flatly. 

“Yes, but we also have a way to restore it.” Adora said. She rose up and dusted the dirt off of her knees- not that it did much- before continuing, “We just have to figure out how this thing works.”

“Goody.” Catra said. 

“Oh, you’re going to be even more enthusiastic when you hear what I found.” Adora said. Catra turned, narrowing her eyes as she looked Adora up and down. Nothing was too far out of place- there was mud that hadn’t been on her shoes before, and the faint smell of alg-

Oh.

“Please tell me it’s not a boat.” Catra tried, praying to every cat goddess she knew. 

“It’s a boat.” Adora said. Catra felt her fur bristle.

~~~ 

The boat swayed side to side as Adora attempted to bring in the mainsail, her muscular arms pulling at the ropes. She had put down the sword for now and reverted back to her original self. Or at least, as close to her original self as she could get. Catra felt sick to her stomach. 

“This water smells salty.” Catra commented, wrinkling her nose. It was an inland stream, and Catra wondered how close to the ocean they were. Very, very far away, she hoped. 

“The water’s not the  _ only _ thing that’s salty.” Adora mumbled. 

This wasn’t like her normal, playful insults. Adora meant what she said. Catra tried to convince herself that it didn’t sting. 

“Whatever.” Catra said, puffing up her chest. “I just wanna get out of here. You’re the one who’s trying to turn this into Catra and Adora adventure time.”

Adora turned to her, her hands letting the rope slip free in shock. There were a million emotions on her face and Catra realized that she couldn’t read any of them. Her mouth opened up as if to respond and anger settled in on her, but she never got to say what she wanted to. 

The boat lurched under them as it crashed into an outcrop of rocks, and Catra’s ears pinned down as her tail wrapped around the sail in attempt to steady herself. This sailboat was little, but the sail was large, and Adora forgetting the importance of what she was doing had immediate consequences. 

It would have been delicious for Catra to watch had she not been  _ inside _ the boat. 

The boat began to sink, slowly but surely taking on water until it was oozing up through the floorboards. Catra glanced back and forth between the side of the boat and land. 

It was a long jump, but she would  _ have _ to make it. 

She stood and shot across the boat as fast as she could; the longer she waited, the less her chances of getting out dry were. The water in the floorboards soaked through her shoes and socks, wetting her feet. She prayed to every higher power she knew as she launched herself off the side and flew through the air. 

She landed safely on the bank. 

Smug relief went through her as she watched Adora struggle to grab her sword, boat still sinking. 

Three minutes later, Adora was crawling back on the shore and towards Catra. 

“Did you have a nice swim?” Catra asked, pleasantly.”

“It was wonderful.” Adora said. “Got any ideas where to go from here?”

Adora plopped down, water dripping from her and onto the dirt beneath. Catra scooted away from her to stop it from contaminating her dry stretch of earth. 

Catra thought. Well, this  _ was _ the perfect opportunity to convince Adora to go back home. She hadn’t seen any signs of the first ones, and she already had more than enough to keep Entrapta busy for an afternoon. She didn’t want to spend any more time around her  _ ex- _ bestie. 

“Well, we didn’t see any signs of civilization. I vote we follow the river back to the temple and  _ you _ can try to figure out that power source.” 

“Agreed.” Adora said. She shifted, her backpack and sword moving further onto her back, more secure. Catra wondered what was in there that it was important enough to grab. Adora didn’t look Catra in the eyes as she started forward. 

Catra followed, allowing the silence for now. 

~~~ 

“I think we should stop for the night and try to make camp.” Catra said. Adora had hardly said a word since they had been on the boat, and they had been walking long enough for Adora’s clothes and bag to (mostly) dry out and her shoes to stop making that awful slushing sound. At Catra’s suggestion, she paused. “We’ve been walking for like, three hours now. And it’s getting dark.”

Adora huffed a sigh and stopped walking, slinging her backpack off of her shoulder. Catra was just  _ itching _ to start a fight, to start a conversation, to do  _ anything  _ other than walk around in silence. She was  _ beyond _ bored. 

“We should make camp.” Adora suggested. 

“I think we should just grab some of these leaves and sleep on the ground.” Catra said. “Making a camp is a lot of work for one night.”

“We don’t know what kind of animals might be here.” Adora pointed out. “A shelter would be the best idea for protection.” 

“Whatever.” Catra said, ignoring the fact that Adora’s assertion was completely logical. “I’ll sleep on the ground. You can build your fancy shelter if you want.” 

“Alright,” Adora said. “But if you get cold in the night, you can come in. I have a thin blanket in my survival kit.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather not  _ snuggle _ .” Catra spat. She turned, face hot as she marched away. They really were in the perfect spot; a small clearing with a little bit of grass on the ground, and trees protecting them overhead. She could deal with one night sleeping under the stars. It would be worth it, just to deprive Adora of her warmth. 

She settled down and curled up into a ball, ignoring the gnawing in her stomach. She closed her eyes and forced herself to pretend to be asleep, listening to Adora build a shelter behind her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd really appreciate some comments!


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me if the formatting goes wonky, this is being uploaded via mobile

   

When she woke the next day, Adora felt the chill of the morning air, and knew that it had been a cold night for anyone without a thermal blanket. 

Her glance over towards Catra confirmed her suspicions; she was curled in on herself as close as she could get, her tail wrapped up and around her nose as her limbs even now shook. Adora could see that dew had soaked through her clothes, and she considered giving Catra her blanket. 

But she knew that it would just make Catra upset. 

Adora’s stomach rumbled, and she decided that it was time to break out some of the emergency food. She had been struggling with herself, trying to decide whether or not she should break into it or try to find something in the wild to eat; they had no idea how long they were going to be here, and food this easy wasn’t going to be easy to come by. She recognized some plants from Etheria, but she wasn’t sure whether or not they had evolved differently. One misstep could lead to death-by-poison. 

She broke herself off a piece of an energy bar, shoving it in her mouth hurriedly as she salivated. When she was done chewing, she broke off a second bite as her stomach gave a LOUD rumble, demanding more. 

She was wrapping up the second half when Catra made a little noise, her tail flicking out before coming back to settle on her arm. Adora looked between Catra and her half-eaten protein bar. She really didn’t have all that much food, and Catra would never know that she had had this out… 

She walked over, placed it in front of her, and dusted off her hands. She grabbed her bag and folded her blanket, putting it back inside. She then turned, heading down to the river to start her day. 

The sound of the water slipping over the rocks, bubbling joyously, had her humming along as she filled the emergency water filter and set it to the side (Again, she  _ had _ a couple of bottled waters, but would keep them for emergencies). She sat, turning to watch as the dirty water dripped through the filter and into the empty container below. 

_ Drip, drip, drip. _

“You call  _ that _ a breakfast?” Catra asked, wrinkling her nose. 

Adora jumped, clutching at her chest as she straightened her back. She turned, blinking at Catra. “Oh, you’re welcome for the free food that I absolutely didn’t have to give you. It was my pleasure.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah. Now watch while I catch us some real breakfast.”

Adora watched skeptically as Catra marched over to the water, curling her tail around her as she dropped into a crouch, hovering over the water. Adora rolled her eyes, expecting her to stare for a few minutes and come back empty-pawed and grumpier than before. 

Adora turned back to the water, watching as the last drops filtered through. She unscrewed the cap and took a swig, swishing it around in her mouth a few times before swallowing. It tasted more metallic than the water she was used to drinking on Etheria, but she figured it would be fine. If the water filter didn’t filter it out, she would live. 

After all, this was one of the few things Entrapta designed for the rebellion before… 

Luckily, a splash coming from Catra distracted her. She whipped around to see Catra holding a fat, hand-sized fish that she had speared with her claws. Adora’s jaw dropped as Catra smirked. 

“So,” Catra said, “Are you going to start us a fire?”

After breakfast had been eaten (Catra complaining the whole time about overcooking the fish-- they did NOT need parasites on an alien planet) and they were properly hydrated, they set out, following the river again. It was sweaty work, and mostly silent aside from Catra’s occasional antagonistic remarks.

“This is taking  _ foreveeeer. _ ” Catra pointed out, throwing her head back and slackening her arms as she stopped moving. “Shouldn’t we have found the temple by now?”

“I’m sure we’ve got to be close.” Adora agreed, looking off into the distance. She squinted against the glaring light as she searched for the temple. 

_ There _ ! In the distance, she could spot a little path like the one that she had found the boat on. She was almost certain that that was it. 

“I think that’s the path right there.” She pointed out. 

“Good, I’m getting tired of being nice.” Catra complained. 

“This is what you call nice?” Adora asked, flatly. 

“Oh, baby,” Catra responded, her voice dropping. “I’m sure I could be a lot nicer if you wanted me to.”

Adora froze, staying still as a wave of heat radiated through her. She could feel the blush on her face and she knew that she had given Catra what she wanted; a reaction. 

“Right,” She cleared her throat. “So onwards and upwards, then? I’ll go first.”

She didn’t turn back to see Catra’s face. She didn’t want to see how smug she felt after getting Adora all flustered. She marched forward, heading to the path in front of them. Once there, she turned and walked along it, listening to Catra’s footsteps behind her. Catra was a quiet walker, but Adora had been listening to her steps since they were old enough to walk. 

If she forgot the mess surrounding this situation, if she just focussed on walking through the woods, listening to Catra behind her, she could almost pretend that everything was normal. Like they were still best friends. Like she could still make her smile with a dumb joke or snuggle up to her at night after a particularly bad nightmare. 

Adora talked in her sleep. Whenever she had had a nightmare back in the Fright Zone, her frantic voice would wake Catra. Adora would wake up to Catra curling around her, her tail holding Adora’s waist tightly as Catra pressed up against her back. It had made her feel safer than anything else in the Fright Zone. 

Adora hadn’t been paying attention, too engrossed in her thoughts. She didn’t realize where they were until they were practically standing in it. And it wasn’t the temple. 

She looked back and forth, eyes widening as she took in the structures. They were rounded, but with harsh lines creating the illusion of straightness in the architecture. Little houses, built into the forest. 

The cluster was small; six little shacks with the “windows” broken and most of the doors hanging open or gone completely. The white and blue stood in a sharp contrast to the green of the forest. Each hutt had a little greenhouse attached to the back, and Adora could see from here that they had plants inside each one overgrown and spilling foliage onto the floor. There was as complex system of reflection coming down from the very top of the canopy, shifting the path of the light so that each greenhouse was lit by its own beam.

“This wasn’t here when we walked here last time.” Adora said, not even trying to hide the amazement in her voice. They were old, sure. Too old to make her think that civilization might still be here. But that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t be absolutely fascinating for her to go inside. 

“So what,” Catra asked, walking forward and touching one of the doors, “Did we go past the temple? Or….?”

“I don’t know,” Adora breathed. Catra pulled open the door with a satisfying  _ creeeeak _ . Adora practically skipped forward in her eagerness to see what was inside. 

There were a couple of small beds with moth-eaten blankets resting on top, covered in dust. Catra immediately walked over to one and hit it with a fist, sending dust bits flying through the air. Catra then proceeded to have a forty-five second coughing fit that Adora found highly amusing. 

“You really need to learn that your actions have consequences.” She commented. 

“ _ You really need to learn that your AcTioNS have ConSEQueNcES.” _ Catra mocked, maturely. 

Adora walked forward, her footsteps echoing in the little house. She saw the door to the greenhouse attached to this one on the back, and noted how lucky they were. They had most likely just been handed an entire supply of food that they knew wasn’t poisonous. Catra would just have to actually eat a vegetable for once. 

She noticed a little wooden dresser to her right, the only thing in the room that wasn’t made out of metal. She knelt down beside it, looking at it for a moment before she realized that it too seemed to have a password. Reading the ancient writing (with some difficulty), she waited for something to happen. 

The drawer swung open, hitting her directly in the face. 

“Aaaah,” She sighed, grabbing her now-bleeding lip. Catra was there in a flash, standing by her, a frown on her face as she tilted Adora’s head up. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, immediately. Adora was too shocked to move.

Catra’s fingers were tender under her chin, her hand warm. Adora craved more of this; every time Catra touched her now, it was calculated, cold, her fingers pressing down or her claws raking Adora’s skin. This was absent minded. This touch sent an ache through her jaw, pulling at her chest as she gazed up silently, meeting Catra’s eyes. 

It took exactly three seconds before Catra remembered herself. Her eyes widened and she jerked her hand back, shaking it off like she had just stuck her hand in an unidentified liquid. Adora could see the panic in her eyes until Catra shut it down and reverted to her mask, showing only cold indifference. 

“What was that?” Adora asked. Her chest ached. She could still feel Catra’s fingers on her skin, the way it used to be. 

_ Tender. _

“Seems to me like you got hit in the face with a drawer.” Catra asserted, turning away. “Be more careful. I need your administrator powers or whatever to get back home.”

Adora tried to shake off the feeling in her chest, pushing it down for closer examination later. She suddenly remembered a conversation with Glimmer in startling detail. 

_ ‘Yeah, Bow and I are an item now. Isn’t it great?’  _

_ ‘What do you mean you don’t know what dating is, you didn’t have that in the fright zone?’ _

_ ‘Two people who really care about each other do it. It’s like… When you want to share your whole life with them. Or at least a part of it. It’s different than friendship. You normally want to… y’know, get a little more physical. You hold hands, look each other deep in the eyes, and dance to slow songs. And there’s typically pining involved.’ _

_ ‘What do you mean, that sounds like your relationship with Catra? You were dating CATRA?’ _

She could also remember her response. An uncertain, ‘ _ I don’t really know _ ’.

She peered into the drawer that had just almost taken her out and saw that there were several devices in it, with more strange writing. Adora picked them up and found nothing. They were dead in her hands. 

“What are those?”

“I think they might have information in them.” Adora said. “Maybe a map of the forest. I just know that they need to be turned on.”

“How do we do that?” Catra asked. 

“I’m… not sure.” Adora admitted, frowning. She turned back to look at Catra, who had reoriented her body to face her now. “Do you think that we could stay for the rest of the day? I want a chance to figure out how these work before we move on. I think that they could tell us a lot about-”

“It’s not like I have anywhere to be or anyone to miss me.” Catra said, interrupting her. “Plus, I can’t force you to go.”

“It’ll just be for today.” Adora promised. “Tomorrow, we’ll find the temple.”

_ And we’ll go back to being strangers _ , Adora thought.

~~~ 

They couldn’t use the blankets, they were too tattered. But the beds were fine. And Adora had a feeling that they were going to be sleeping well tonight. She had made them some cooked vegetables and Catra had caught another fish for dinner, which they ate fast. 

And so, full and satisfied, they lay down to sleep. 

Adora had convinced Catra to share a hut on the basis of safety.  _ What if the forest life decides to attack? _ But in reality, she was still having issues sleeping alone, and she had the sneaking suspicion that Catra was, too. 

She lay in bed, focussed on the rising and falling of her own chest as she felt Catra’s presence across the room. She thought that this would help, but the space between them, as small as it was in those little huts, felt like a chasm. She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened earlier, Catra’s hand on her face. 

If she really hated Adora that much, how did she forget everything that had happened? For those moments, those  _ blissful _ few moments, things were  _ how they used to be _ . 

And if it happened once, it gave Adora hope that it could happen again. 

“So, um. Your friend Scorpia,” She started, breaking the silence between them. “Is she really as nice as she seems?”

Adora had genuinely liked her from what little she saw, and was happy that Catra had someone else willing to look after her. 

“This isn’t funtime sharing hour. I’m trying to sleep.” Catra huffed, her ears pinning back. 

Adora turned over, feeling numb. She closed her eyes, allowing them to water, knowing that Catra wouldn’t see her. She stayed like that, facing away, until she faded off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! And a big thanks to everyone who already has!!!


	4. Chapter Four

When Catra woke in the morning, she felt stiff. There was something heavy wrapped around her shoulders, and a warmth radiating across her skin that she hadn’t fallen asleep with. She opened her eyes to find that Adora had draped her blanket over her at some point in the night. She fought the urge to shred the grey fabric into little bits. 

But the blanket was  _ so _ warm. And soft. And she hated Adora still but it smelled like her so that made it kinda okay. 

She forced herself to get up, stretching before tossing the blanket back onto Adora’s bed. She walked outside, flinching at the sun’s light, to see Adora crouched over the fireplace. She had various fruits and vegetables scattered around her; some of them familiar (the ones the first ones must have brought over when they switched planets) and some of them completely new. Last night, they had just grabbed what they recognized to go with the fish. 

“Oh, hey!” Adora looked up sharply, smiling at Catra. It still felt weird now, to have Adora smile at her. It had been so long. “I’ve been experimenting with these all morning, trying to find out what is and isn’t good to eat and whether or not it’s better cooked. I have some sweet and tasty breakfast options for you!”

“Yeah,” Catra looked at the plate Adora was holding out to her. “I actually think that I’ll just go grab another fish.”

Adora gave a little sigh, lowering the plate and looking down. “Yeah, okay. I’ll just… eat up and then work on figuring out how to get those maps to turn on.”

“Okay. I’ll be back soon.” Catra said, ignoring the guilt that was beginning to rise. 

She walked down the path and to the river, listening to the sounds of birds overhead. Their calls were different than they were back home, morphed as time went on, developing into two different songs. Catra thought that she liked this one better. 

As much as she hated to admit it, Adora had been nothing but nice to her so far. And it was getting to her. It was making her angry and guilty at the same time. 

Angry, because it proved that Adora didn’t see her as a threat. Guilty because she  _ did _ see Adora as one. 

As she walked along the path, she noticed that something was… different. The worn dirt itself was the same, but the trees to either side of her seemed eerily unfamiliar. Then again, Catra had never paid much attention to trees. 

Suddenly, a bird bursted from the trees above and landed feet in front of her. Catra stared at it, cocking her head to the side. 

She was returning to the camp sooner than expected. 

~~~   

“You have feathers on your shoulders.” Adora said, looking up from her project. The little device was open in front of her, a little silver plate divided into six squares raised from the back. 

Catra brushed her shoulders off. “Sorry, these dumb birds just kept throwing themselves at me.” She walked towards Adora’s little work station, plopping down and looking at the mess of electronics and small tools scattered. “What are you doing?”

“I wish I knew.” Adora groaned, letting her head fall forward and sighing. “I think this is what it uses to charge, but I can’t get it to react to anything. There isn’t any kind of charging station in the area, or any mysterious instructions I could work off of.” She tapped the silver panels, groaning. 

“They’re sooooo shiny…” Catra said, her eyes widening. She could feel her tail flick in interest as she looked at the tantalizing squares. 

Adora looked up, freezing as she locked eyes with Catra. Slowly, she smiled. 

She reached out, grabbing the device, and held it to her side. The sunlight reflected off of the squares and onto the ground below, creating a little dot made of bright light in the shadow. Catra felt her instincts go haywire as she stared intensely at the little light. 

“Here, kitty kitty kitty.” Adora said, softly. 

Catra couldn’t control it. She pounced. 

She chased the light around the camp, using her back legs to propel her forward as she headed for the spot with determination burning in her chest. Just as she approached, it moved back further, and Catra’s eyes scanned to relocate it. As soon as she found it she was pouncing again, gleefully chasing the light in front of her. 

It took a solid forty five seconds before she snapped out of it. Adora was laughing so hard she had doubled over, and Catra felt blood rush to her face. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. 

“You  _ know _ I have no control over that.” She said. 

“Yeah,” Adora said, sighing. “I also know that you love it.”

Catra would never, ever admit that Adora was right out loud, because she  _ wasn’t _ , but she supposed that there could be worse things than the pleasant burn in her muscles and the deep satisfaction that came from her cat brain deciding she had probably killed the light. 

She forced herself to relax, huffing a breath. She felt stimulated. She  _ could _ turn this into a fight with Adora, sure, but she didn’t particularly want to. 

Suddenly, there was a sharp beeping coming from Adora’s hand. Catra narrowed her eyes as the technology sprung to life, the screen beginning to glow, a little bar beginning to slowly fill. 

“Oh my God.” Adora said, bringing her flat hand up to her forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t try sunlight until now. That’s like, a  _ major _ source of energy. Guess you chasing that laser came in handy.”

“Well, what now?” Catra asked, blinking at the device. “Can we get out of this place now that the map is on?”

“I don’t think it’s on yet.” Adora said, picking it up and attempting to touch the screen. Nothing. “It’s definitely charging, though. We’ll probably have to wait a little while until we can turn it on.”

“UGH.” Catra spat, pulling at her hair. “There’s nothing to  _ do _ here.”

“Well,” Adora said, “We could spar.”

“What, you don’t get enough of me kicking your ass?”

Adora narrowed her eyes, keeping eye contact with Catra as she leaned over and grabbed the map, tilting it again.

Catra turned sharply, before her instincts could be triggered. Her hair rose as she fought the urge to turn around. It didn’t matter how badly she wanted to launch herself across the dirt towards the light until her foe had been vanquished. She couldn’t let herself forget that this was  _ bad _ . 

It didn’t matter if they were having fun, this wasn’t the horde, and Adora wasn’t going to magically love and respect her. All they had ever been to her was casual friends. 

Catra wasn’t going to play this game of pretend. 

“Yeah, I’ll be in my room. Just figure it out or whatever.” She spat, marching away. She would carve drawings into the walls in the meantime. 

“Okay, Catra.” Adora said, softly. Catra ignored her. 

~~~ 

“So, you know how the whispering woods change without warning?”

“I am, in fact, in possession of a long term memory.” Catra responded, gripping her nose. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I think that this forest is the same way.” Adora said, gesturing to the map. “The temple that we started at? Is way over there.” 

Catra blinked at the moving screen. It was easy to see now that the sun had started to go down, giving way to a lavender twilight. Adora had gotten the map to work, and it seemed as though the pictures were shifting ever so slowly back and forth, creating a live map of the forest. This one clearly worked better than Entrapta’s version. 

“So we’re leaving?”

“Not quite.” Adora said, sighing. “If we leave, the temple will just keep moving. I don’t know how fast the forest moves. We could be chasing it for  _ weeks _ and still not get anywhere. This camp, however,” She gestured around them, “Seems to be built on the only part of land that doesn’t move, I’m guessing it was done like that so the First Ones would always have access to the water, since the path to the river doesn’t seem to move either. If we move, we risk losing that.” She pointed towards what was clearly the temple on the map, “I vote we stay here until we’re sure that it’s close enough for us to reach.”

“We’ve already been gone for three days, Adora!” Catra said. “How much longer am I supposed to wait here with  _ you _ ?”

It came out like venom, sharper than she expected. 

But the insult proved to be a double edged sword. 

Adora pulled back, her eyes filling with water as she looked at Catra, processing the emotional blow. Catra was surprised when she let a tear fall from her eye. Seeing Adora as anything less than composed normally meant anger, desperation, despair, but not…  _ this. _ Genuine sadness sparkled in her eyes. 

“I have been  _ nothing _ but nice to you today.” Adora said. Catra was too stunned to respond, and so Adora stood up. She walked towards their room, pausing at the entrance. “You’re not the only one who hurts, you know.”

Catra felt that reverberate through her core, leaving her feeling achy and hollow. She brought her knees up to her chest and held them tightly there. The firelight flickered against her side, bringing her warmth. She still felt cold. 

Her own eyes swelled with fluid, and she cursed herself for it. Adora shut the door behind her. 

“She  _ hurt _ you.” Catra whispered to herself. “She  _ deserves  _ this.”

~~~ 

By the time Catra slunk into the room, she had already cried all the tears that she had left. 

She crawled into her bed, feeling Adora’s presence next to her. Adora was curled in on herself, wrapped around the pillow like she was holding something. She had her eyes closed, but Catra could tell that she was still awake. She could always tell. Adora used to pretend to be asleep all the time.

Catra curled up, feeling her tail brush against her nose. Adora had her thermal blanket back, and Catra tried to convince herself that she was okay with the cold. 

_ You have to make her your ally here. _ She told herself. She pushed down the part of her that rejoiced over the prospect, clinging to the part that  _ hated _ it. 

“So, um.” She said, feeling weak. “Tell me about that Glimmer. Does she ever just. Teleport into your room?”

Catra decided to go with the same tactic Adora had used on her last night. She couldn’t stomach an apology, but this was the closest she could get and she knew that Adora would interpret it that way. She held her breath.

There was a silence in between them, and for a moment, Catra thought that Adora wasn’t going to respond. Then, Adora’s voice cut through it like a butcher knife through butter.

“She used to. Did it a couple of times. I accidentally punched her in the stomach before crying about it for half an hour, so.  _ That _ wasn’t the a fun time. But we  _ do _ have a lot of fun together.”

“Oh yeah?” Catra asked. She felt herself relax to the sound of Adora’s voice as she had so many times before. “Like what?”

“Well, one time Bow got his hand stuck in this weird hole in the wall-” 

Adora’s stories seemed endless, and soon, Catra found herself engaged. Before she knew it, she was responding with stories of her own, and they were laughing and talking about weird shit Entrapta had done, and it felt oddly like she was catching up with an old friend. 

She tried to hold the resentment she felt close, but with every passing minute they shared together it was getting harder and harder to pull back. 

“One time, she tried to make my shoelaces electronic. They tried to strangle me in my sleep that night.” Adora put in. “I think we should have realized that she was evil sooner than we did.”

“She tried to teach me how to code last week.” Catra put in. “Some bullshit about needing an assistant. I learned absolutely nothing, but you should have seen the look on Hordak’s face when he saw the mess we made! Dude, it was  _ priceless _ .”

“My friends are  _ muuuuch _ more tasteful about teaching me things.” Adora interjected. There was a short, awkward pause, a kind of tension in the air that Catra could sense. “Like, Glimmer taught me what a date is. And what a ‘romance’ means. And I, uh, have to say, the concepts weren’t  _ entirely _ unfamiliar.”

Catra felt herself freeze up, and tried to ignore the jealousy burning in her chest at the thought of Adora in a (presumably monogamous) relationship. 

“Oh,” She said, feeling numb. “So you and Glimmer are going out, then?”

“No, it’s not like that!” Adora defended, and Catra could hear Adora raising her hands. But she was looking at the cieling. “I mean, she’s cute, but we’re… Not like that, right now.”

Catra  _ hated _ that that made her feel relieved. She had a feeling she would have felt the same kind of relief if Adora had told her that their relationship was open. Catra wanted Adora to be available to her, and it was  _ hard _ to deny that.

“Yeah, I get that.”

“But, um, when she was telling me about it, it almost reminded me of… someone.”

“C’mon Adora, just spit it out.” Catra said, feeling more and more anxious by the minute. 

“ _ Iwaswonderingifyouthoughtofusasgirlfriendsinthehorde _ ?”

Catra froze.  _ ‘I was wondering if you thought of us as girlfriends in the horde _ ’. Wow, Adora really was completely clueless. 

“We shared a bed every night. I cared about you more than anyone else. I made sacrifices for you, defended you, put myself  _ in danger _ for you. We used to  _ hold hands _ when we walked to training practice. What did  _ you _ think, Adora?”

“Oh.” Adora responded, breathing out. It almost sounded… relieved. 

Catra never realized that she hadn’t put two and two together yet. She thought that they weren’t kissing or fucking because Adora was  _ shy _ , not because she  _ didn’t know they were girlfriends. _

“I thought you knew.” Catra said, simply.

“I… Think that I did, deep down.” Adora commented, slowly. “I just don’t think I realized it. Like, consciously.”

Catra rolled over. She needed time to process this new information. She mumbled, “I’m going to bed.”

“Goodnight, Catra.” Adora said, in her stupidly soft voice. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments you've left so far!  
> I need a cover for this story on wattpad, if anyone wants to draw me that I'll let you read the rest of the fic immediately? I'm not looking for anything particularly fancy so you can do whatever you want with it, I mainly just want Catra and Adora and the title of this story ^_^.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fantasy I was talking about is at the beginning of this chapter! If you need to, just skip the italics!

_ She was in the Horde’s dungeon, her sword just out of her grasp. She could see it on a table to her left. She felt the cold metal of the thick handcuffs and struggled harder. She was still in her She-Ra clothes, somehow. Her hair was flowing freely over her shoulders, but her tiara had been removed.  _

_ The door slid open, and Catra walked in.  _

_ “Hey Adora.” She purred, approaching with ease. The door shut behind her, leaving the two of them alone in the darkened room.  _

_ “Whatever information you’re looking for, I won’t give it to you.” Adora said, firmly. Her voice wavered, though. She was afraid. She didn’t know what Catra, Hordak, or hell, even Entrapta, might do to her to try and get her to break.  _

_ She might not know a lot, but the information she did have was vital.  _

_ “Oh, Adora. How naive of you to think that I want you to talk.” Catra slinked forward, her body moving rhythmically side to side as her tail twitched. She looked at Adora with a hunger in her eyes that made Adora’s stomach flip. Her hands felt searing hot as they landed on Adora’s thighs, claws out. Catra raked them delicately along her skin, leaving thin white lines. “Especially when what I really want is to make you  _ sing. _ ”  _

_ “C-Catra?” Adora asked. Catra’s hands slid upwards, her claws easily slicing through Adora’s pants. Adora’s thighs shook as unbridled  _ heat _ began to pulse through her. The fabric tat had been covering her fell to the floor. She felt Catra’s claws retract, and then, Catra’s finger rubbing her now exposed clittoris in soft little circles.  _

_ She arched up against her restraints, already panting. She had never been touched like this by anyone but herself before, but she realized that she had  _ craved _ this for far too long.  _

_ “C’mon, moan for me if you want it, princess.” Catra purred. Adora was helpless to stop the moan that came from her lips, her thighs shaking as Catra took her apart with just one finger. Then, two fingers slid downwards, and Adora felt one slip inside of her. “Now, be a good girl and make some noise for me. I won’t be able to tell you to, my mouth will be… Otherwise occupied.” _

_ That was all the warning that Adora recieved before Catra’s tongue was licking gently at her clit, soft and warm and so  _ wet _. Catra added another finger and Adora felt lightheaded. She knew she was making sounds, knew she was moaning and gasping and panting, but she couldn’t hear it. Every bit of her concentration was on Catra, working at her pussy.  _

_ Catra pulled back, licking her lips. Adora gave a whine at the loss of sensation.  _

_ “Now I’m gonna go back down, and you’re gonna cum for me, okay?” _

_ She thrusted her fingers forcefully, and Adora squirmed against the table. “Please, Catra!” _

_ Catra went back down and started with fast-paced, consistent licking as she finger-fucked Adora, rubbing up against her gspot with extreme accuracy. Adora felt a burning want building, a need surfacing, and before long she found herself chanting Catra’s name as she came hard.  _

_ “Catra, C-Catra, oh FUCK Catra!” She cried out as her muscles clenched around Catra’s fingers.  _

_ Catra pulled them free with a smirk and Adora felt her body sag, her muscles all relaxing after the satisfying climax.  _

_ “I’ll be back for more.” Catra purred, turning away. _

_ ~~~ _

Adora had felt beyond validated by the talk that her and Catra had had the night before. All those confusing feelings, the way her lips used to buzz when she looked at Catra, the need to hold and be held and feeling like the world was crashing down on her when she was gone, and-

It was a lot to process, and she had little time to do it. But she felt better. She felt like she had an explanation.

She rose, stretching out. Catra was already up and out of the room, and it felt empty to wake up without her.  

That was odd. Catra was  _ never _ up before ten o’clock without force. 

Adora got up and walked out of the hutt. She stretched, feeling the sun on her face. 

“Sleep well?” Catra asked. She was stretched out in front of the fire pit, casually roasting what Adora could only assume was once a bird. She had also thrown a few vegetables on there, which Adora found touching. 

“Yeah.” She said. “Like a baby, actually.”

She walked over to the fire and sat down. Catra turned the bird slowly, allowing it to cook. 

“So you’re making breakfast today?” 

“Do you see anyone  _ else _ doing it?” Catra asked. “And it’s more like brunch. It’s like noon, dude.”

“Noon?!” Adora asked. 

“Well, we did stay up pretty late last night. And you  _ must _ have had good dreams, since you were saying my name.”

Memory of last night’s dream suddenly hit Adora over the head. Her face turned red as she backed up, blinking, trying to think of what to say to Catra now that she  _ knew. _

Catra’s laugh cut through her panic, high-pitched and fierce as she reveled in Adora’s flustered face. “C’mon dude, you have  _ got _ to learn to take a joke. You look beyond pissed.”

Adora felt relief flush through her. Catra was  _ joking _ . Probably. It was still difficult to tell with absolute certainty, but she knew that at the very least Catra hadn’t heard enough to assess the nature of the dream. 

Probably. Hopefully. Maybe. 

It was so difficult to tell with her. 

“C’mon, sit down. I made you some vegetables or whatever.” Catra informed her, gesturing towards the large spread that she had made. Adora took a few quick steps, grateful for the change of subject that she most desperately needed. 

She sat down at the fire, the dampness of the log soaking through her clothes and reminding her that they hadn’t been washed in quite some time. Shifting uncomfortably, she picked up her portion of the meat and reminded herself that hygiene was, in fact, a commodity. 

As she scarfed down her food, she messed with the map. They had left it in the sun all day yesterday to charge. A quick glance told Adora that the temple was still  _ very _ out of walking range, but moving closer. However, something interesting  _ had _ popped up within walking distance of them… 

“What’s that?”

Adora jumped, not expecting the warm breath against her ear. Catra was standing behind her, pointing at the screen. Two little rocks and a blue line accentuated some landmark near them, and judging by the screen, it was moving even closer. Adora peered at it through squinted eyes. “I’m not sure. It doesn’t look like a temple. But it  _ does _ look interesting.” 

“We should go there.” Catra said, immediately. There was excitement in her voice; the kind that usually got the two of them in trouble. 

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Adora said, raising her hand and flattening it. “We can’t just go romping around the woods here, Catra. This isn’t Etheria, we don’t know enough about it.”

“Right, and we  _ never will _ if we don’t take the chance.” Catra insisted. “This is what the First Ones had. Aren’t you excited to explore that?” 

“I,” Adora paused. Catra’s excitement was infectious, and it was hard to say no. She had to think of a reason, quick. The two of them couldn’t just romp around out here. They could lose their safe space. “What if we lose our camp, Catra? And our access to the stream?”

“We have the map!” Catra declared. “We can definitely find this place again. We’ll just be gone long enough to check it out.”

“.... We really shouldn’t.” Adora said, shaking her head. Catra gave a long groan. 

“Well, what would you have us do  _ instead _ , funmeister Adora?” She sassed, her tail flicking in discontent. 

Adora knew she had approximately three seconds to come up with something that would entertain Catra at  _ least _ as much as romping around an unexplored forest. 

“Hey! How about we train? It’s been awhile since we’ve sparred, and uh… I’m ready to, yknow.” She put her hands up in a punching movement. “Fisticuffs.”

Catra stared at her blankly. Adora worried that she hadn’t picked something interesting enough, worried that she’d underestimated Catra’s competitive streak enough to make it impossible for them to avoid exploring the ruins. 

Catra blinked. “Yeah, I guess so. If you  _ really _ wanna get your ass kicked today.”

“Alright,” Adora said, dusting her hands off and setting down the map. “What kind of rules are we-”

“THE REAL WORLD DOESN’T HAVE RULES!” Catra yelled, dropping to the ground and sweeping Adora’s feet out from under her. Adora landed on her ass and looked at Catra, who was crouched next to her and grinning from ear to ear. “Sorry, Princess. No rules this time around.”

“Compromise.” Adora proposed. She couldn’t help but smile back as she stood, rubbing her now-sore ass. It had been awhile since she’d been taken down by Catra outside of a serious battle situation. “No rules except no wounds that will take longer than a few days to heal. Broken bones are off-limits.”

“Duh.” Catra said, rolling her eyes. “When have I  _ ever _ -”

Adora took her opportunity and launched herself at Catra with no warning, her hands pushing Catra’s shoulders into the ground as her legs fell to either side of Catra’s hips. 

Catra had a point. Even in real battle, she had never hurt Adora more than a quick trip to the magical healing springs could fix. She was covered in bruises and scrapes-- maybe a little emotionally distraught-- but nothing even remotely permanent had happened. She’d never broken a bone or mangled Adora’s flesh like her claws  _ absolutely _ could. The scratches Catra had left on her back had hurt, but were ultimately shallower than they had first looked. The only time she had even come close to permanently hurting her was in that temple, and even then, Catra had known that the cliff was an illusion. 

“What, you think you’re the only one who can play dirty?” Adora asked, savoring the stunned look on Catra’s face. 

“No,” Catra responded honestly. “Just didn’t know you had it in you.”

Catra’s tail caressed Adora’s face, and Adora felt herself close her eyes and melt into the touch before she knew what she was doing. A moment of weakness, heat flushing through her at Catra’s soft touch, allowing Catra the opening that she needed. 

Catra bucked Adora off, sending her scrambling backwards. Adora stood, embarrassed to have already been on her ass a second time before they even really started. Catra went from laying on her back to a full upright position with one powerful roll of her body, leaving her standing and facing Adora with a sparkle in her eyes. 

They stood there for awhile, each waiting for the other one to make the first move. Adora watched for Catra’s telltale ear flick, preparing herself to dodge. She would not be the one to initiate if she could help it. 

There! That flick of the ear. Adora dodged to the left as Catra came at her. Catra, however, had planned for the dodge. Her claws raked against Adora’s shirt, slicing through the thin material and leaving white marks across Adora’s skin. They didn’t hurt. 

Adora looked down at the tear, feeling frustration rise. 

“What is with you and tearing my clothes?!” She questioned. 

Catra laughed and lunged again, mistakenly thinking that Adora was distracted. Adora took a quick step to the right and Catra tripped herself on the log that they sat on, landing to the left of the smouldering fire-pit. Adora wasn’t concerned; she knew that Catra could take care of herself. 

“I think you wear too many. Clothes, that is.” Catra purred. Adora felt that blush start to creep back up on her face and had to force herself to remain limber rather than tense up, as she wanted to do. Again, a heat was threatening to spread through her, an ache and a longing that she had thought she buried when she left the horde. 

Catra attacked then, flipping herself over Adora with one powerful stroke. Adora ducked on impulse, knowing that Catra would otherwise knock her on her ass a third time. Catra landed behind her and Adora felt Catra’s warm body press up against her back, avoiding the elbow Adora had raised to hit Catra’s arm. 

“Really baby,” Catra purred, her breath hot against Adora’s neck, voice dripping with irony, “I’m not as predictable as you think I am.”

Adora felt weak in the knees, and lightheaded. That feeling was back- she didn’t want to say it, but she couldn’t deny it- she was  _ horny _ . The ache that radiated through her promised to bring her nothing but grief if left untended. 

And it wasn’t like she was going to get alone time any time soon. 

Now that Catra had figured out that sexual advances distracted Adora, Adora knew that she would use it to her full advantage. Standing here all day getting hot and sweaty in this uniform that she had  _ no way to wash _ , soaking her panties and praying for five minutes alone later, was not how Adora wanted to spend her afternoon. 

In fact, it sounded like her own personal hell. 

“Alright!” Adora sounded, her voice rising an octave. “I think we can both agree that you won this one!”

Catra backed up and Adora whipped around. Catra was looking at her curiously, head tilted to the side and one hand on her hip. Adora could see the cogs turning, and didn’t want to make this worse for herself. 

“How about, uh. Since you won, you get to choose what we do next?” Adora suggested. Catra’s face morphed into a grin, and Adora instantly regretted the decision. 

_ You dumbass lesbian _ , she chided herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, I live off of them.  
> Still looking for a cover for this story if anyone is interested! And if you can't do digital and would rather do traditional, you could scan your piece in. If you can't scan in your piece, I'd also be willing to offer up the rest of this fic for ANY fan art that you post somewhere (regardless of follower count) and link back to this fic in.  
> PS. Wish me luck, I'm about to go to a geology test that's worth 1/3rd of my grade and I've been at practice for a play I'm in that opens tomorrow at least 3-5 hours a day every day this week and Monday-Saturday last week LMAO. I am not as prepared as I should be.


	6. Chapter Six

“This is gonna be so awesome!” Catra insisted, moving a large leaf out of Adora’s path. “We’re pioneers, Adora.”

“We’re not pioneers, we’re rediscovering something that’s already been established.” Adora argued. 

“Yeah,” Catra said, “So were the pioneers. We’re just not gonna be  _ dicks _ about it.”

“Okay, fair point.” Adora panted, sweat running down her face. They had a bottle of water and a couple of those stupid little protein bars with them, which Adora had insisted upon taking. 

As they moved through the jungle, Catra felt herself relax. This felt familiar, moving through the terrain with Adora in tow, curiosity and determination driving them. Even though she knew it shouldn’t have, it almost reminded her of when they were children, running around the horde camp discovering secret rooms and getting each other into trouble. 

Catra wondered if Adora felt the same way, but she wasn’t about to ask. Not with how it put an ache in her chest to think about her saying ‘no’.

“Which way now?” Catra said, instead. She stopped, crouching on a log and pinning her ears back as she looked ahead of them, into the forest. She was on alert, but saw nothing other than the foliage, nothing other than the birds. 

Catra glanced back to find Adora squinting at the map. 

“It seems like it’s to the left, but it also looks like we’re  _ right _ on top of it.” Adora announced. “It just doesn’t seem to make any-”

Adora went to lean up against a tree to her left, and her arm passed right through it. She let out a high-pitched shriek as she pulled her arm out, eyes wide as she shook her hand as if to confirm that it was still attached. She glanced between her hand and Catra a few times, her eyes comically wide, still processing. 

Catra looked at the tree, narrowing her eyes. “Looks like we’ve arrived at our destination.” She announced, leaning in. Her head disappeared through the tree, a wave of ticklish energy washing over her face as she pushed through the barrier. She grinned. 

A large waterfall washed down into a little pool about the size of the Horde’s swimming pool (which they had for training purposes, of course). Around the edge there stood a little shack, which was in surprisingly good shape. Off to the left, there was a cube with wires and buttons and a small, woven metal sail attached, drifting back and forth softly in the wind. 

“Adora,” Catra said, wiggling her tail in excitement. “Look at this! They hid it!”

“You could have been  _ killed! _ ” Adora exclaimed, horror in her voice. “Why did you just. STICK YOUR HEAD THROUGH THAT?”

“Relax, your hand was fine.” Catra said, rolling her eyes. But she had to admit that hearing the care in Adora’s voice was a little bit comforting. “Come on in!”

Catra stepped through the energy field, her hands immediately brushing over her hair and arms to remove the static that clung to her skin afterwards. She took a few steps through the soft grass and towards the pool, conscious of the terrain. She knew that they weren’t yet out of danger, especially since this was First Ones land. They were notorious for booby traps. Heh. Booby. 

“Whoa.” Catra heard. She turned to see Adora looking at the waterfall. “This is… ridiculously convenient. I’ve needed a shower for like, days.”

“You’ll still have to put your dirty clothes back on afterwards.” Catra pointed out. Adora’s excitement didn’t seem to waver. 

“Doesn’t matter. Feeling clean for twenty minutes is exactly what I need. It’s  _ relaxing _ . A new concept that Bow and Glimmer taught me.”

Catra wrinkled her nose. “Ew. Sounds gross.”

“C’mon,” Adora said, the promise of a shower (ew, water) making her reckless, “There might be more that we’re missing.”

Adora ran forward, her hand slipping into Catra’s like a puzzle piece as she pulled her along. Catra was too stunned to do anything but allow herself to be led as Adora rushed forward, the rocks surrounding the pool bigger and more artificial-looking the closer they came. They were very realistic, but the colors were off. It was obvious that they had been placed around the pool on purpose, likely to stop the constant waves from eating away at the shore. 

When Adora stopped, they were just feet from the water. Catra could see now that it was crystal clear, revealing mounds of sand underneath. The yellow, darkened ever so slightly by the light blue of the water, was mesmerizing. Catra had never wanted to be in water before (and she still didn’t) but even she had to admit that this wasn’t nearly as bad as seas and lakes and the questionable pool back at the horde. 

Adora leaned forward, and Catra felt her own hand shift. She realized that they were still holding hands, and Catra quickly tugged hers away. She crossed her arms over her chest to keep it from happening again. 

She wasn’t going to just let Adora hold her hand like everything was back to normal.

Adora turned towards Catra, a question in her eyes that she didn’t ask. Instead, she blinked twice before turning back to the water, her eyes roaming over the rippling surface before stopping and looking intently at the waterfall. 

It cascaded perfectly onto rocks below, and the darkness behind it revealed that there was definitely a cave behind it. Catra could see where Adora’s brain was headed, and decided to skip ahead a few steps. 

“I’m going to go see what’s behind that waterfall. You can take your little shower or whatever if you want to.” Catra said, jumping on one of the rocks and using it to propel her forward. She jumped from rock to rock, aware of Adora’s steps behind her as she followed Catra towards the fall. 

The sound of the waterfall hitting the water beneath it drowned it out as Catra approached the side. Her nose wrinkled as little droplets fell on her face, the misty air wetting her as she slipped behind the fall and into the rocky chasm. She gave her eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness, and Adora came panting behind her. 

As Catra’s enhanced eyesight kicked in, the room began to make sense to her. She saw a few chairs, a table, and off to the corner two metal boxes with lids on the top. In the center of this room was another round of stones, protecting a smaller pool of water. Catra opened her mouth to tell Adora when the lights flashed on. 

Adora was standing by the wall, her hand on a button. There were little symbols above it, and Catra could only assume that Adora had gotten close enough to read them. 

“What is this place?” Catra asked. She could see now that there were more symbols, First One’s writing, on most of the objects. What looked suspiciously like a list of rules was posted in the corner. 

“Oh my GOD!” Adora said, running over to the small boxes in the corner. “Catra! Catra, this  _ cleans clothing _ . And then this one dries it!” She gestured to the boxes. 

_ Great. _ Catra thought, miserably.  _ Now I have no excuse to avoid taking a shower. _

“Greeeeaaaatttt.” Catra said, giving her a thumbs up. “Can’t wait.”

Adora walked to the side and a little metal dispenser that Catra hadn’t been aware of before became apparent as Adora pushed the buttons, collecting little packets as they fell. “I’m so glad these aren’t empty.”

“What… are they?” Catra questioned, cocking her head to the side. Adora popped one of the packages open and a light, flowery scent filled the room. 

“This, you put in with the clothes to help clean them. The horde just used extreme heat, but it seems like the clothes they wore here might not have been durable enough for that.” Adora said, dumping it into the first bucket. 

“Ah,” Catra said, nodding. “So it’s a shitty washing machine?”

“It’s what we have for now.” Adora confirmed. Once she had dumped the contents into the machine, she seemed to hit a mental roadblock, pausing and looking down at her own clothes and then to Catra. Catra smirked, realizing immediately what the problem was. 

Adora was feeling  _ modest _ . How cute. What  _ had _ they taught her in the rebellion?

“What, don’t want me to see your boobs?” Catra asked. “As if we haven’t already seen each other naked a  _ hundred _ times? C’mon, Adora.”

Catra reached down and grabbed the bottom of her own shirt defiantly, pulling it up over her head in one fluid motion. She let her shirt fall to the floor, her perky breasts immediately drawing Adora’s attention. 

“I mean, it’s not-- I’m fine with it! It’s just a little bit different!” Adora defended. She shrugged her jacket off of her shoulders and grabbed the bottom of her own shirt, taking it over her own head in one fluid motion. She was still wearing a sports bra, because of  _ course _ Adora was wearing a sports bra, and she bent over to grab her jacket before putting both articles of clothing in the washing machine. “I mean, nobody else is around. And now I know that we, um. Have a past?”

“Everyone has a past with everyone.” Catra said, rolling her eyes. “Ours is just a little more complicated.”

Catra unbuttoned her pants and they fell to the floor. She stepped out of them and grabbed her clothing, chucking it in the washer with Adora’s. She turned, looking towards the water falling down over the rocks. She liked to tease Adora, but she could also tell that Adora was nervous. Catra didn’t want to make that worse for her. 

Plus, being turned like this would give Adora an  _ incredible _ view of her ass. And Catra was, in fact, still a little evil at heart. 

A couple of seconds later, Catra heard Adora shove the rest of her clothes in the washer and shut the lid. Now that Adora was naked too, Catra… kinda regretted not taking more time to think over this decision. It felt… vulnerable. It felt vulnerable to be here with her like this. 

But Catra knew that even if she thought about it she would have made the same decision. It was… weirdly nice. To be down to their base essentials.

“What’s the smaller pool of water for, if our clothes get washed in there?” Catra asked, still not turning back. Adora walked beside her and pressed a bar of soap into her hand (most likely retrieved from the wall dispenser). Adora walked ahead of her, and Catra watched as Adora took out her ponytail, letting her hair fall down over her shoulders. 

She was just as beautiful as Catra remembered. 

“That’s a hot spring.” Adora said. “And after we wash off, I’ll show you what it’s  _ for _ .”

Catra wanted to protest, but something in Adora’s voice stopped her. Adora was fragile right now, volatile. Catra didn’t want a big, blow-up scene where they fought, at the  _ very _ least not when they were  _ naked _ , because Catra had been resisting touching Adora’s bare body for too long to finally be granted her wish in some kind of stupid argument. 

“Sitting in more water.” Catra said, flatly. “Sounds like my idea of fun.”

She forced herself to walk forward as Adora stepped into the spray. Adora’s body, now distorted by the water, was a skin-colored blip among the cascade. 

Catra stepped into the flow, pinning her ears to her head to stop water from getting in them. She reached up with the soap and scrubbed at the base of her hair roots, letting the soap drift down and clean the rest of it. A few moments of scrubbing her skin with her teeth gritted later, and Catra was finished her stupid shower. 

At least she would smell better now. 

Adora was, stupidly, still enjoying the flow. Catra snuck a glance at her, trying cement what Adora’s body looked like in her mind. She knew that this would probably be her last opportunity to do it. She tried to convince herself that she wasn’t sad about that. 

Catra wandered over to the “hot spring”, crouching down beside it and smelling the water. She shifted her hand just the slightest, feeling a portion of the terrain sink from the pressure. Suddenly, great big bubbles began to rise from the bottom of the water. Water droplets splashed Catra’s face and she threw herself back, letting out a sharp  _ hiss _ of shock. 

Adora’s head poked itself out from the waterfall, and Catra turned to see Adora’s eyes light up. “You made it bubble!”

“I think I accidentally pushed a button.” Catra said, “How do I get it to stop?”

“You don’t,” Adora said, coming out of the spray. “This is perfect. Ohhhh my gosh, we’re gonna be  _ so _ relaxed.”

“You think this is  _ relaxing _ for me?!” Catra asked, voice rising in pitch. Adora rolled her eyes and stepped fully out of the water, droplets still rolling down her stupid, perfectly dewy skin as she walked over to the tub. Catra watched as Adora looked at it, tilting her head for a moment, and then jumped in. 

Catra pulled back in horror. 

“You  _ really _ want me to get in that?” She questioned. “To be boiled alive?”

“It’s not  _ that _ hot.” Adora argued. “And it feels really nice after the cold waterfall. C’mon,” Adora goaded, moving closer to Catra. She spotted the button that Catra had pushed, and pushed it again. The bubbles came to a halt. “I’ll even keep the bubbles off for now. C’mon, Catra. You won’t be disappointed.”

Catra knew that she didn’t have anything else to do while their clothes washed, and getting in the tub was more appealing than just standing around naked until they finished. 

She slowly slinked forward, using her hand to test the water first. Adora’s face was dangerously close to hers, a fact which she chose to ignore in favor of paying attention to the temperature. 

It was warm. Ridiculously warm. Lying in a beautiful patch of direct sunlight warm, and although Catra  _ hated _ water with every single cell in her body, she could get used to this. “Okay. But just because there’s nothing else to do.”

“Alright, Catra.” Adora said. She sat back and crossed her arms smugly over her chest. “Whatever you say.”

Catra got on her knees and swung her foot out, letting her toes dip into the water. Then her foot, calf, thigh, and soon she was slipping the rest of the way in, body sliding over the rounded stones and muscles relaxing as she sunk in, coming to sit on the bench halfway through, which had been carved from rock straight into the spring. 

“Pretty cool, huh?” Adora’s break ghosted her ear. Catra turned to find Adora leaning towards her, one arm reaching out to support her as she leaned close. Adora was smiling a coy smile, like she knew  _ exactly _ what she was doing as Catra’s heart pounded. 

But knowing Adora, Catra thought that she probably had no clue. 

“Okay, I admit it.” Catra stretched out, her arms spreading. “This is like something straight out of a  _ wet dream _ .”

She watched Adora’s reaction carefully. 

Catra had her suspicions. When she’d heard Adora say her name softly in her sleep this morning, she hadn’t thought much of it. It was Adora’s reaction to the joke she made about it that set off the flags in her head. Before that, she had assumed that it was a nightmare. Now? 

Well. Like she said, she had her suspicions. 

Adora’s face, already red from the hot water, somehow got even redder. She stuttered a few times, backing up against the side of the tub. “W-Well, I wouldn’t say it’s THAT good. Ha ha!”

Her hokey laughter caused Catra to raise an eyebrow, and Adora turned and cleared her throat. Signature Adora move for changing the subject. 

“So, uh. Wanna turn on the bubbles?”

“No.” Catra said, plainly. “I wanna talk about why you just got embarrassed.” Catra moved closer, her tail coming out of the water to flick playfully in the air as she crawled towards Adora, one hand landing on the wall near Adora’s shoulder while the other grabbed a piece of her wet hair and twirled it in her finger. “Adora, did you have a  _ wet dream _ about me?”

Adora seemed completely unable to respond, trapped by Catra’s steady gaze and closeness. Catra took the silence as her answer and backed away triumphantly, landing back in her seat across the hot spring with a smirk. 

“Shut up.” Adora said, breaking eye contact and looking down at the water. 

Catra felt… almost angry, for some reason. She wished that she would have known sooner. She wished she could have asked Adora out when they were both in the horde, for real. She wished that they could have kissed, wished she knew what Adora’s pretty little face looked like all blissed out after an  _ amazing  _ orgasm. Catra wanted the full girlfriend experience with her, and she never got to have it. Of  _ course _ Adora’s sexual feelings for her would awaken when they were on opposite sides of a war. 

But she didn’t want to focus on that right now. Right now, she wanted to make Adora as adorably embarrassed as she possibly could. “Sooo… What was the dream about? Were you fucking me, or was I fucking you? Did you have an orga-”

“Oh my GOD Catra, I am NOT giving you the details!” Adora said. Catra felt endlessly, gleefully amused. 

“Why?” Catra asked. “Because it would get you all hot and bothered to tell me about it?”

Adora looked Catra in the eyes, and Catra could see that she was  _ very _ nervous with the question. “No!”

“Suit yourself.” Catra said, shrugging. She would stop now. Adora was verging into “genuinely uncomfortable” instead of “embarrassed”, and that wasn’t fun to Catra. “But just know that if you want, I can give you time to masturbate tonight.”

“Catra!” Adora said, acting offended. She shook her head, clearing it, and let the tension drain from her body as she realized that Catra was dropping the subject. “Yeah, alright. Like I’ll be the only one.”

Adora teasing back was a good sign. Backing off had made her comfortable enough to approach the subject playfully again. Catra decided to run with it. 

“I’ll try to make sure you don’t hear me gasping your name.” She said. Then, for good measure, “Adora, ohhhhh, Adoraaaa! Harder!”

“As if I wouldn’t already be going hard.” Adora mumbled, clearly unsure of herself in saying it.

Ooookay, so now Catra felt a little bit of arousal simmer herself. She typically had a pretty good handle on her hormones, but this? This situation was unprecedented. 

Catra didn’t know how to respond. She knew how she wanted to respond; she wanted to take Adora, or for Adora to take her, right on this floor. But she knew that she couldn’t, and shouldn’t. 

But for the first time, she realized something dangerous. 

Adora wouldn’t stop her if she  _ did _ try to initiate something. Even now. 

She had a lot of feelings about that. Why her, and more importantly, why her  _ body _ ? How was that still tempting to Adora even when their friendship had been so shattered? Why did she abandon the friendship she’d felt for Catra, but not her lust? Adora didn’t give a shit about her, so why on  _ earth _ did she still want to fuck her?

A small ding! Sounded through the cave, giving them a convenient exit to the conversation. 

“The clothes are ready.” Adora announced, rising from the water. Catra watched her ass bounce as she made her way over to the dryer to remove them. 

“Goody,” Catra said. She tried to ignore her conflicting feelings. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if u want them to fuck


	7. Chapter Seven

Adora’s hair was still dripping, but she grabbed it and forced it up into her usual ponytail. Then, it could drip onto the back of her shirt until it eventually dried into a frizzy mess. It felt like most of her life was, in fact, a frizzy mess right now. 

At least, metaphorically. 

They moved outside the cave, and Adora opened up the electronic map. She squinted at the screen, looking for their camp. A flash of panic went through her when she saw just how far away it was. It had more than doubled in distance from when they first hiked to the pool, and Adora knew that they needed to be home by midnight. 

Taking out a couple of protein bars, she handed one to Catra. “This is going to be a long trip. Let’s fuel up now.”

“Goody.” Catra said, flatly. “Dry nutrition bars. What more could a girl want?”

“You’re welcome.” Adora said, pointedly. Catra just groaned before stomping off into the forest, headed in the exact wrong direction. Adora could tell that it was going to be a long walk home. 

Especially since she would  _ very much so _ appreciate some private time to analyze their recent interactions. She didn’t know what to think.

Catra turned, poking her head back out of the leaves. “I’ve realized that you’re the one holding the map. Can we  _ please _ get a move on?”

“I don’t know,” Adora said, unable to help herself. “I  _ am _ the slowest person on the face of the earth.”

Catra grinned. 

~~~ 

They had been walking for about two hours now. Adora could see that the sun was setting lower in the sky than she would have liked, and she found that she couldn’t spot any wildlife. As much as that calmed her to a certain extent, it had her convinced that everything but the birds on this planet was nocturnal. Adora didn’t know whether or not they should be out here when everything woke up. 

“I’m tiiiiireeddd.” Catra complained, stumbling along beside Adora. Adora rolled her eyes. 

“We’re almost there.” She promised, looking at the screen. “We just need to get through this-”

“Adora!” Catra hissed. Adora felt arms wrap around her waist as Catra pulled her back, stopping her from stepping into the clearing she had intended to head through. Adora looked up, and her eyes widened. 

Four long legs, a light teal color that seemed to blend with the off-green of the “moss” that grew on the ground in this area. Adora peered closer to see two sets of eyes; a higher and larger first set and then a lower, smaller second set, that were further back on the creature’s head. It had soft white opalescent tendrils coming up from its head like antlers, but they moved like seaweed underwater when the creature shook its head. 

Adora could feel her eyes sparkling. 

It was  _ beautiful. _

__ “Oh my  _ God _ ,” Adora breathed, blinking. She couldn’t believe what she was watching; the thing looked skinny, but was grazing on the grass in the meadow. 

“Looks like this place does have more than just birds.”

“It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” Adora said, softly. She felt warm-- from the amazement that coursed through her at the sight of the creature and from the way Catra was pressed against her now, body still rigid from pulling Adora back. Adora didn’t want this moment to end. 

A shadow passed over the clearing. 

Adora watched as the creature’s neck snapped up, its ears rotating rapidly around the meadow, looking for any signs of danger. The shadow got darker, and the creature’s ears froze as it processed what was happening. A pitiful sound of distress was heard, and a large metal insect landed right on top of it. 

The creature was swallowed by a large glob of web, surrounding its body in seconds. 

“Should we run?” Catra asked, behind her. The insect’s eyes snapped up, and Adora remembered suddenly that she had left her sword at camp like an idiot in her hurry to get away from her uncomfortably horny situation. 

“I think that’s a good plan, yeah.” She responded. She felt Catra pull away and Adora was jerked around by her wrist, Catra leading them as she ran in the opposite direction. 

Adora snapped out of it soon enough, and she was running beside Catra as they were chased through the woods. Her lungs burned and her legs hurt, and Catra’s grip on her wrist was centering her, grounding her to reality. 

“This way!” Adora shouted, seeing a large tree with a split down the middle. She knew that these things were stupid when it came to thinking things through, and she figured that skirting through the middle of a tree would give them a few seconds while the idiot tried to figure out a way around it. 

Catra swiveled instantly, following behind Adora loyally as they ran through the tree. As soon as they were through, the ground sloped under them and they were running downhill with nothing to stop them. Adora shrieked and cursed her mixture of ingenuity and poor decision making as they ran down. 

She looked up and almost didn’t see it in time. She pulled away from Catra’s grasp and used the final bit of her time to turn, shoving Catra as hard as she could as Adora’s shoulder stuck straight in the green, sticky web. 

“Hey!” Catra shrieked, falling to her knees. Adora felt guilt flash through her, but didn’t have enough time to apologize or explain herself. 

“If you have to,” Adora said, struggling. “Leave me. I’ll find a way out of this.”

As she moved back and forth, the web stuck harder and harder to her uniform. She struggled, but it pulled her back, sticking against her clothes and ruining what used to be completely clean as the webbing (apparently the most advanced part of all of this) grabbed hold of her and pulled her back flat against it, sticking to her skin.

She struggled harder, adrenaline racing through her as the tried to think of a way out of this. She had managed to shove Catra out of the way of the web; that was one problem solved. Maybe she could take off her clothes? No, the webbing was stuck to the skin of her left hand , not to mention not having the  _ time _ to take everything off. 

Moisture from the web soaked through her clothes and onto her skin. She could feel it pulling her in.

“Adora?” Catra said, the worry in her voice tangible. Adora struggled harder, seeing the spider over the hill finally stop trying to fit itself through the tree and realize it could just go around. 

“Catra, run!” Adora shouted. Instead, Catra was suddenly in front of her. Her claws were tearing at the webbing, breaking strand after strand, but it just wasn’t going to be fast enough. Adora could see the panic in Catra’s eyes and relaxed, forcing herself to breathe. She knew that struggling made this worse. 

But she also knew that it was hopeless. 

“Catra, GO.” She said, firmly. The spider was halfway down the hill, taking careful, deliberate steps now that it thought it had its prey all wrapped up. Adora still had more than half of the webbing on her, no matter how fast Catra attempted to tear through it. 

“I’m  _ not _ leaving you!” Catra hissed, moving to her other side and methodically ripping more and more of the webbing. The insect came ever closer, until Adora could feel the air whoosh from its steps. 

“Catra,  _ GO!” _ She shrieked, unable to help herself from struggling, making her situation worse. Catra turned then, the panic in Adora’s voice setting her off as well. The insect was close, too close. Catra realized that it was hopeless. 

And she turned, located the tree next to Adora, and used her claws to propel herself upward. Adora watched, feelings too complicated to identify swirling in her gut. Catra was going to be safe, but she was also going to watch her die. No offense to her, but… the girl had enough emotional issues as it was. Watching your ex girlfriend get eaten alive couldn’t be good for the psyche.

The spider approached, and Adora could see her reflection in its bright blue eyes as she waited. Its pincers opened, revealing rows of jagged metal teeth, giving her an idea. 

She would wait until it was close enough, dodge its attach, and use the sharp metal to cut its own webbing. She would then run through the web, leading the spider into its own trap and slowing it down long enough for her and Catra to-

Suddenly, the leaves rattled and the limbs swayed above them as Catra dropped down onto the Spider’s head, using a large branch to brutally smash one of its many eyes. Once she had an opening, she fearlessly reached inside and grabbed a handful of wires, pulling them out. Adora watched in fascination and gratitude as Catra cut the wires one at a time with her claws, her heart pounding as the robot began to thrash. 

Catra ducked down, lowering her center of gravity to stay on. She continued to destroy it, reaching hands in one after the other and coming out with handfuls of wire to tear open. It felt like forever (but was probably closer to thirty seconds) before the lights in the monster’s eyes dimmed down, its legs falling and remaining down, head falling forward and mechanisms whirring as they shut down. 

Catra stood on top of it, a hand full of cut wires in her hand and a smirk on her face. Adora felt triumphant, thankful, relieved, and most of all,  _ loved _ . 

“Well, well, well,” Catra said, “Look who’s resigning herself to the role of damsel in distress. Pity.” 

She slid down the head of the machine to stand in front of Adora, dusting her claws off on her pants before raising them to begin cutting through the webbing again. Adora felt a little bit helpless.

But, of course, instead of feeling upset by that like a normal person, it made her kinda horny. In her defense, the adrenaline 

“Thank you,” She said, clearing her throat as her second hand was freed. Catra smiled as she knelt down to cut Adora’s feet free. 

“You should have seen your face.” Catra asserted, grinning from ear to ear. “ _ Oooh no, Catra, help me! _ ”

“What?” Adora asked, rubbing her wrist as the warmth of familiarity began to flood her. This was just like when they used to banter after training in the horde, back when things were simpler. Back when they both knew how much they loved each other, before it had been tainted. “I literally  _ told _ you to leave.”

“That doesn’t mean that you  _ meant _ it.” Catra argued, freeing Adora’s feet. Catra stood, and Adora realized how dizzyingly close she was as Catra put a hand on her shoulder, eyes bright with mischief and still high from the adrenaline of battle. 

“Well yeah,” Adora teased back. “I would never want you to leave me.”

Catra froze then, eyes darting up and peering into Adora’s as she processed that. Adora quickly realized her mistake, and the warmth of Catra’s body so close to her own disappeared. 

Catra turned, walking back towards the meadow. Her arms crossed over her chest as her tail flicked. She turned back, her voice blank and empty. Her eyes had lost the sparkle that they had had in them moments before, and Adora felt guilty for taking that away. “C’mon, let’s go. You have the map.”

“Right.” Adora said, sighing. 

They swung back by the meadow before they left, where Catra freed that poor, terrified, majestic creature. Which immediately tried to kick her in the face. They moved on quickly after that.

Adora walked forward, past Catra as they walked back towards their campsite. The sun was low on the horizon and they needed to get back as quickly as possible, especially now that they knew there were robots here. Functioning first-ones tech, killing as it pleased in these ever-changing woods. 

Despite the seriousness of the discovery, Adora couldn’t focus on it. No, instead, she  _ felt.  _ There was a deep, heavy feeling in her chest. Like she was a tree at the beginning of autumn with its leaves dying, but refusing to shed so early in the season, weighing down her branches as the wind slowly whipped them away.

It had happened again. It didn’t matter that it was in the heat of battle, didn’t matter that Catra had pulled back and pulled away from her again as soon as it was established. The second emergence of the complete, comfortable  _ companionship _ gave Adora more hope than she had ever had before. It wasn’t too late. 

She had a deep wariness, but she also had hope. A small seed of hope, but a hope nonetheless. These moments, they kept getting more and more frequent. They wouldn’t be happening if what they had, their relationship, their  _ friendship _ , was truly dead.

Her and Catra could get back to what they were before. She could get her friend back. 

And she knew that she would fight to make that happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the argument about who tops and bottoms at the end of the last chapter, it was highly amusing to read and everyone who input had something valid to say XD


	8. Chapter Eight

Catra stared down at her reflection on the surface of the water. It was already broken, rippled, and distorted by the moonlight. She reached down and raked her nails across the top of it, growling in frustration as she tried to peer into the water for fish. She didn’t need to think right now; she just needed to eat. 

Anger, confusion, want, longing, hatred, want, spite, want, hope,  _ want _ . Her feelings were a giant mess, and she felt like she was drowning in them. 

A flash of movement caught her eye and she dashed her hand under the water, coming up successfully with a large fish. She killed it quickly and turned, running across the path back to the camp that her and Adora shared. 

She had made the trip to get some alone time, but she knew that they needed to eat something aside from energy bars today. 

Catra gutted the fish with her claws, filleting it and spearing the lumps of meat on a stick from nearby. She could remember turning hotdogs slowly over the fire in the rebellion, and mimicked it now. She just really wished that she could eat the fish raw without earning a lecture from Adora, who was finickey when it came to food safety. 

The fire was crackling as Catra turned the fish she had caught over the flames. Adora was sitting across from her, cutting fruit into little pieces and eating them one at a time. 

The silence felt all-consuming as Catra let the heat of the fire dance across her skin. 

_ Why do you play with my emotions like this?  _ She argued with Adora, silently. She could imagine Adora replying, _ You’re my main roadblock to victory, do you really expect me to  _ not _ want you to defect? _

Adora, since their earlier battle, had been suspiciously kind. Suspiciously forthcoming. In the moments of silence between them, she could tell that words were being formed and stored away for later use. She had a feeling that she knew what those words were. 

Catra felt a deep, queasy uneasiness in her stomach. Even now, Adora was trying to get her to leave her position in the horde. Catra wondered whether or not she would ever be more than just a pawn to her.

Adora had seen how strong she was today, when she destroyed that robot. She had gotten a reminder of how strong Catra was, had been shown that she  _ was _ a threat. And Adora’s reaction, instead of giving Catra the respect that she most certainly  _ deserved _ , was immediate strategy. 

Because Adora was going to ask her to leave the Horde.

She should have known better than to let herself slip. Those precious few moments when things had felt  _ normal _ were not an indicator that her world had been turned right-side-up again. Life was war, for Adora. Not about people, but about wins and losses. 

Catra wasn’t going to let herself be one of Adora’s wins. 

“Sooo,” Adora said, pointing towards the meat, “Do you think it’s done yet? I’m starving after today.”

“Maybe.” Catra said. She lifted the stick and held the crackling hot meat up to Adora. “If you want some, take it. Nobody’s stopping you.”

She knew that her tone was harsh again, but she couldn’t let herself soften. She had already shown Adora too much weakness. 

“Thanks.” Adora said, softly. She delicately picked the fish off of the stick in short grabs, hissing at the heat as she slowly worked it off, placing the free meat to the side so that she could eat it all at once. “Looks delicious.”

Catra didn’t respond, instead turning back toward the woods. She felt the bags under her eyes, exhaustion in her body. She felt like Adora had just left all over again, and she was sitting right across from her. 

“...Do you think that you’re going to eat yours?” Adora asked, tentatively. 

“Why, trying to eat my share too?” Catra asked, anger sparking inside her and replacing the empty void of apathy that she had carefully-… well, no, not  _ carefully _ crafted. More like… duct taped together. But she used the  _ good _ duct tape. “I’m the one who caught it.”

“Oh my  _ God _ .” Adora said, huffing. “What is  _ with _ you?”

Catra jumped at the outburst, looking up. Adora seemed  _ pissed _ . She was standing now, hands on her hips as she glared at Catra from above. Catra was too shocked to say anything, just watched as Adora towered over her. 

“Every  _ single _ time I think we might have a chance at being close again, you shell up again! What the  _ fuck _ , Catra?”

Now  _ that _ broke Catra out of it. Adora rarely cursed, so it was jarring to hear. It hurt. It made Catra want to hurt her back. 

“Maybe I wouldn’t be like this if you weren’t trying to  _ manipulate _ me!” Catra spit. “You act so high and mighty, but you do  _ exactly _ what the horde did in your little  _ rebellion _ .”

“Manipulate you?!” Adora asked, pulling back. “How am I trying to  _ manipulate _ you? By showing you that I still care? By wanting you out of the Horde, and away from the people that hurt you?”

“ _ YOU hurt me!” _ Catra spat. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stood, her hands turning into fists at her side. She couldn’t calm down enough to retract her claws, and they dug into her flesh. “You  _ left _ me! You weren’t coming back! You told me that I had two choices; to uproot my entire life, everything I’ve worked for, or to  _ lose you _ ! You didn’t give me an alternative. How can you say you care about me?”

Adora’s shoulders relaxed, and her voice softened. “Catra, I-”

“No.” Catra interrupted. “You saw me defeat that giant… _ bug thing _ in battle today and got reminded of the fact that  _ I’m _ your biggest threat. As long as you  _ don’t _ remember that we’re equals, we can be buddy buddy. And as soon as you  _ do _ , you start trying to convince me to join the rebellion again, start trying to  _ change _ me.”

“I have  _ always _ known that we’re equals. I have  _ never _ thought of you as-”

“Yeah right!” Catra shouted. “You  _ never _ defended me from Shadow Weaver. When she told you you were better than me, you  _ believed it _ . You only want me so you can win your little war and go back to being a big hero, and then you’ll have all of the glory for yourself.”

“Every  _ single _ time I have beaten you, it has been because of someone else.” Adora said, firmly. “We didn’t  _ have _ any real one on one training practice in the Horde. I beat you in those simulations because I teamed up with Lonnie, or Kyle, or anyone else. The only reason I beat you was because you refused to work with anyone!”

“I could have worked with  _ you! _ ” Catra said, feeling her argument start to crumble. Adora continued. 

“The only reason we won the battle of brightmoon was because of the Princess Alliance. I have always thought of you as brave, smart, talented, ambitious, and most of all, my  _ friend _ .”

“Stop it.” Catra hissed, unable to come up with an argument. These words were hurting her chest and she wanted to double over. Her knees were shaking and her cheeks were wet and she felt a million things at once, none of them any less confusing than the others. Except for the  _ anger _ . That, she understood.

“But I don’t care about that. I  _ want _ you, Catra. Not because it would make the fight easier for us to win, but because-”

“Then  _ prove it _ .” Catra interrupted, forcing herself to look Adora in the eyes. “I’m not leaving the horde. I’m not  _ good _ , Adora. I can’t play your little Princess games.”

“What are you saying?” Adora asked. “I don’t understand what you want me to do.”

“Be my friend or be my enemy. It’s up to you. But I am a  _ horde soldier _ , Adora.” Catra said, desperately struggling to regain her composure. She reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned, looking anywhere other than Adora. She needed to get out of here. “And you were one, too.”

She took that chance to storm away, heading behind the house that they were sleeping in. She pressed her own back against the side of it, facing the forest. She knew that Adora couldn’t see her, so she let her exhaustion finally begin to show as she bent down, her knees coming up to allow her head to rest. She let the tears flow freely now, unable to stop them now that she was alone. 

It took Adora longer than Catra would have guessed to come around the side, walking towards her. Catra refused to look at her as Adora sat down beside her. As much as Catra hated it, it made her feel comforted.

Adora placed a hand on Catra’s arm, and Catra let out a soft hiss.

“Catra,” Adora said, softly, “It’s me.”

Catra stared at the ground for as long as she could, but Adora’s hand stayed steady on her arm. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to push her off or pull her closer. 

Eventually, Catra looked up. She sniffed,unable to stop herself from looking directly into Adora’s eyes. They were blurry from her own tears, and dark from the lack of light where they sat. She could see the firelight flickering in the background. 

“I made my choice,” Adora said, softly. “And I choose you.”

“What?” Catra asked, in disbelief. 

“It doesn’t matter that you’re with the horde. I’m going to stop trying to convince you to change. But you’re still my friend. I still want to be with you, in every way possible.”

Adora’s voice had another layer there, something that grabbed ahold of Catra’s heart and  _ squeezed _ . 

“You want me… for  _ me? _ ” She asked. 

“For you. And only for you. No strategic advantage involved.” Adora confirmed. “Can you promise me the same?”

Catra felt her eyes flicker down, but was unaware that she was looking at Adora’s lips until they were inching closer, leaning towards each other in the darkness. Catra felt Adora’s hair fall forward, hitting her shoulder. She was close enough to taste Adora’s breath, which had a light, fruitiness to it. 

“Yes,” Catra whispered, closing her eyes. She waited, expecting one of them to move, but not knowing who it would be. She felt how close they were; so  _ damn _ close, she could feel Adora’s  _ heat _ and wanted nothing more than her lips on her own.  _ God _ , Catra had never  _ wanted _ anything this much before. 

She opened her eyes, and saw that Adora’s were closed. Adora was leaning in, mimicking Catra. Catra pulled back ever so slightly, curious as to why nothing had happened, uncertainty swirling in her gut. 

Adora’s eyes opened and she pulled away, blushing. 

“Sorry, I, uh… must have misinterpreted some signs.” She said. She turned before Catra could do anything, standing and heading back towards the front of their little house. Before she rounded the corner, she paused, tossing a glance over her shoulder.

“And I just want to let you know,” Adora said, “I want as much of you as you’ll let me have. I have never believed a  _ single _ word that Shadow Weaver said about you.”

“Thank you.” Catra said, softly. 

She knew that it was a lie, but she didn’t need the truth right now. 

Adora turned the corner, and went inside. 

Catra knew that it wasn’t a good idea. She was fraternizing with the enemy; every moment she spent with Adora here, it would be that much harder to best her in battle. But… maybe that’s not what Catra wanted anymore. Maybe, just maybe, she could learn to forget about all of that. 

At least for long enough to let herself have this. 

She got up, crept inside their cozy little cabin. Adora was turned over on her side, eyes closed, pretending to sleep. Catra walked over to her side of the room and knelt down, knees already protesting as she hooked her hands underneath her bed frame and gave a sharp  _ pull, _ sending it skirting a foot out from its original position. 

Adora turned over, blinking. “What are you  _ doing _ ?”

Catra didn’t respond, at first. She hopped up on the mattress and slid between the bed and the wall and started to push, instead. As she predicted, pushing worked better than pulling, and the bed creaked in protest as she pushed it across the small home, only a few short feet until it was nestled right up against Adora’s. 

Catra climbed up on top of her mattress, looking pointedly at a very confused (and partially flustered) Adora. “I don’t want to pretend like this isn’t happening anymore.”

“Like  _ what _ isn’t happening?” Adora asked, tentatively. Catra felt her heart ache in her chest. God, Adora was so. Fucking. Cute. 

“Us.” Catra responded, lying down in bed. 

“ _ Oh. _ ” Adora said, clearing her throat. 

There were a few moments of silence, but a restlessness in Catra wouldn’t let her sleep. She couldn’t leave this unresolved. She knew how Adora was; it was time for her to acknowledge something she probably should realized have  _ years _ ago. 

If she didn’t initiate their physical relationship, it wasn’t going to happen. 

“Hey, Adora?” Catra asked.

“Yeah?” Adora responded. 

Catra was grateful that she hadn’t yet gotten under the blankets; it gave her the space and speed she needed in order to flip herself up and reach one leg over Adora, the other coming to settle on Adora’s other side. “Is this okay?”

“Y-Yes.” Adora responded, her hands coming down on Catra’s thighs. Catra could feel the warmth of Adora’s fingers through the fabric of her pants and felt a flash of arousal work its way through her. Not allowing herself to be distracted, Catra moved, pressing her chest up against Adora’s.

“Is  _ this _ okay?” She asked, giving a little wiggle. 

“Yeah, Catra.” Adora said, her voice just  _ slightly _ whinier than usual. Catra could tell that she was awakening a need, and  _ God _ she loved it. 

Catra leaned forward, her face coming closer and closer to Adora’s, hair falling down to tickle Adora’s cheeks as she ghosted her lips along the side of Adora’s, savoring the warmth, savoring the moment, knowing that their first kiss wasn’t something she wanted to rush, but to  _ savour _ instead. 

“What about this?” She asked, her voice a low rumble. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Adora breathed out. 

And it was all over. 

Catra pressed her lips against Adora’s with fervor, feeling the warmth immediately spread through her body as Adora let out what could only be described as a  _ moan _ , letting Catra take control of the kiss. Catra pressed her lips down harder, her hands coming up of their own accord to cup Adora’s face. 

As soon as she pulled away, Catra went back in for a second. And then a third, and fourth. Adora’s body was responding beneath her, her little arches, her hands gripping Catra’s thighs for dear life as she so  _ clearly _ came undone, Catra was  _ drunk _ on it. 

It had surely been minutes by the time that she pulled away, panting for breath, lungs burning with a need for air. Adora was panting, too. Catra figured her need for air was for a different (but similar) reason, and a  _ thrill _ shot through her at the thought. 

She might… actually get to have sex with Adora. The girl that she’d been fantasizing about for years. 

Even after Adora left, she hadn’t been able to break the habit. Catra would shamefully hate-fuck  _ herself _ in the shower every morning, fingers thrusting harshly in and out of herself as she rubbed her clit with her other hand, imagining that it was Adora doing it. 

But not tonight. 

Catra rolled off of Adora, landing beside her. She snuggled up to Adora’s side, no longer allowing herself to sleep at Adora’s feet. She leaned forward, and cooled things down a bit by offering a quick peck to Adora’s cheek. 

“Goodnight.” She said, lips still buzzing. 

“Goodnight.” Adora responded, voice full of wonder. 

It was the best sleep Catra had gotten since Adora left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment!   
> Big chapter, eh? ;-)


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note that in here I mention a theory I have about the first episode of She-Ra. If you can't remember it very well, it's the scene where Catra and Adora go out on the skiff for the first time. PS, if anyone knows the technical correct spelling of "skiff", that would be great, as right now I only hope I am spelling it correctly.

Adora couldn’t believe it when she woke up. Catra’s body was up against hers, the warmth radiating down her, Catra’s soft snores filling the dimly lit room as the sun rose over the horizon. 

She didn’t want to think about how Catra had said she wasn’t going to leave the horde. She didn’t want to think about how they were going to have to leave this place eventually, return to the war, and go back to being enemies. She wanted to relish the feeling of Catra’s lips against hers, a feeling she had craved for so long and just gotten to indulge in. 

Catra stirred, her hand tightening against Adora’s shirt as her mouth opened wide, sucking in a deep breath of air as she stirred awake, jaw stretching open into a yawn. 

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Adora teased. “It’s not like you to be up with the sunrise.”

Catra seemed to blush, but it could have been the natural morning flush she tended to have. “Yeah, well. I slept pretty good last night.”

Adora looked at her, hair frizzed out in the light of the sun, reddened skin and sleepy eyes still glazed over as Catra slowly drifted back to reality, and felt so full of  _ peace _ that it felt like it was breaking her. 

“Want to get something for breakfast?” She suggested. She raised a hand and began to run her fingers delicately through Catra’s hair, feeling a deep satisfaction at the answering purr. 

“I want whatever gets you to keep doing that.” Catra said. If it was possible, she melted against Adora even more. 

“It can’t go on forever, kitty cat.” Adora teased, smiling. She knew Catra secretly liked it when she called her that.

Catra gave a deep sigh and flicked her ears, signalling that she was ready for Adora to stop. Adora pulled her hand away and Catra stretched, her arms reaching upwards and spine curving. Adora pushed the blankets down, the cool morning breeze light against her skin. 

“You get the meat and I’ll get the vegetables?” She offered, standing on the bed and stepping over Catra before falling to the floor. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll do the hard part, as usual.” Catra responded. Adora could hear the smile in her voice. 

Adora walked outside and let the breeze refresh her. Catra rolled out of bed. 

~~~ 

Catra’s tail flicked as she picked meat out from between her teeth with one of the bird bones, and Adora warmed her cold hands over the fire. It was still too early in the day for it to be hot. 

“We should probably check the map before it gets too late.” Adora said, reaching towards her bag. She opened the pocket and pulled it out, turning it on and waiting while it calibrated. Soon enough, she had a complex layout of the land resting at the tips of her fingers. 

She peered at the screen, feeling excitement as she saw that one of the pyramids was much closer than it had been the night before. She turned the screen to Catra, indicating to the little triangle. 

“Look! It looks like we can go today.” She said. Catra looked at the screen and then at Adora, her eyes blank. 

“Oh,” She said, “That’s lucky.”

Adora pulled the map back towards her, peering at the screen. “We’ll have to prepare for one of those robot attacks, though.” She said. 

“Y’know, actually,” Catra said, casually. “I’ve been putting some thought into that, and I think we might be better off to travel at night. Those things seem to come out in the daytime. There are never any larger animals around then, but this place still has an ecosystem.” 

“... And?” Adora asked, confused. 

“And that means there have to be animals.” Catra said, flatly. “They might have just evolved to be nocturnal.”

“Oh!!” Adora exclaimed, looking back down at the map. “Okay, yeah. It seems like it’s moving closer to us right now anyway. That’s a good idea.”

“You’re welcome.” Catra said, looking more than a little pleased with herself. Adora felt her heart warm as she looked at the catgirl she loved. And she could finally admit that to herself. It felt… refreshing. 

“What do you wanna do in the meantime?” Adora asked, her heart tensing up at the thought of getting to spend…  _ intimate _ time with Catra. God, she would love that. 

Catra paused, thinking for a moment. “We probably need to tend to the greenhouses. It looks like it’s been a little while since they’ve been handled.”

“Okay, good idea.” Adora agreed, smiling. Catra had actually thought of something other than herself for once. Maybe she  _ was _ having a positive impact on her. “That way anyone else who comes here will have fresh food once we’re gone. We don’t know how sensitive most of these plants are, and we  _ did _ eat an awful lot.”

“Yeah.” Catra said. “For other people.”

Adora looked at her, brows furrowed. Catra looked back, expression completely blank as one of her ears flicked. Adora almost asked, but decided against it. She wouldn’t want to seem dumb. Better to just pretend like she understood.

“Let’s get started.” She said, standing. Her muscles burned as she stood, and she savored the opportunity to do something useful. It had been too long since Adora had last felt productive; she was starting to feel a little depressed about it. 

Adora walked into the greenhouse and started poking around. Catra followed behind her, mostly to perch on the little stone bench in the middle of the room and watch Adora as she worked. More than once, Adora caught her casually licking the back of her hand- which she knew Catra did when she was comfortable. 

She explored the little greenhouse further, looking at the little plants in the pots and hoping for some sort of sign as to what she could do to improve the place. Some of the plants were in the ground- the taller (but still relatively short) ones that made sweet fruits- and she pulled up the weeds that had collected around the base. She could find pipes running along the walls and shooting upwards towards the ceiling, curving along the sloped top. She assumed that these were the water delivery systems. 

“Maybe we can add more water to the ecosystem?” Adora said, mostly to herself. 

A shadow passed over the greenhouse, adding a pleasant coolness that there hadn’t been before. 

“Does it seem dry?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow. “Otherwise, you’ll just throw things off. You can over water plants too.”

“And here I thought you never paid attention in horticulture class.” Adora teased. 

“I didn’t.” Catra reminded her, grinning. “I got kicked out for starting a mud fight, remember?”

“Oh right!” Adora said, smiling broadly as the memory came back to her. Kyle was absolutely  _ covered _ , head to toe, in sticky, brown  _ mud _ . They’d all spent a minimum of an hour in the showers afterwards laughing and scrubbing it off. Shadow Weaver had given their entire squadron dish duty for a month. But it had been worth it. 

Stuck in her rememberance, Adora barely registered how much darker it was becoming. 

“My one regret is not launching that ball at shadow weaver’s face.” Catra said, sighing. 

“That… Would have been pretty epic.” Adora conceded. 

Thunder struck, shaking the ground with the force of its rumble. Adora looked sharply upwards, seeing the clouds gathering around the sun, the sky rapidly greying as the storm began to roll in. 

She looked at Catra. 

All at once, rain began to pour from the sky. 

Adora assumed that they would have been protected from the water in the greenhouse, but she was wrong. As soon as the sky opened, the pipes in the greenhouse began to humm with movement. She lunged forward and grabbed Catra’s hand, pulling her off of the bench. Catra made a small sound of protest at the movement, but it was replaced with a shriek as the water started to pour down on them. 

Adora opened her jacket and held one of the sides up, sheltering Catra as they ran towards the house. They ducked inside and Adora quickly shut the front door, shivering from the chill of the water. It had been so warm before.

“You okay?” She asked Catra. In response, Catra shook her hair out like a dog fresh from a bath and scattered little droplets around the cabin. Adora laughed, shaking her head. “I’m taking that as a yes.”

The sound of rain on the roof was calming. Adora closed her eyes softly. 

“Hopefully the rain stops before we have to leave tonight.” Adora pointed out, letting her jacket fall to the floor. She was significantly less wet without it. 

Catra’s tail flicked back and forth unpleasantly before settling down around her feet. She sat on the bed and dragged her knees to her chest, looking up at Adora. 

“About that,” She said, squeezing herself, “Actually, I uh…”

Catra drew out the sound, and Adora raised her eyebrow. “Go on.”

“ _ Iwaswonderingifyoumightwanttostayhere.” _

Adora felt deep shock richoshe through her system. “What?”

“You heard me.” Catra said, refusing to look at her. Her eyes were trained on the door. 

“Catra,” Adora said, “There’s a  _ war _ back home.”

“A _ dumb _ war!” Catra defended, turning to Adora and bristling. “Did you ever consider that maybe we don’t have to be in a war, Adora? It can just be  _ us _ .”

Adora’s chest had a dull ache in it. She recognized the feeling as  _ want _ , something that Catra had proven herself adept at dragging out of her. She thought of a life without a war, with Catra. No abuse, no dead friends, the weight of the world removed from her shoulders. The two of them slowly healing, on their own time. 

“Where was this attitude when I first left the horde?” She asked. She had to sit down; it felt like the room was spinning. 

“Nevermind.” Catra said, her eyes watery. Adora could see the liquid shake with her tremble.

They stayed quiet, for a moment. Adora was not the first to break the silence. 

“I tried, you know.”

“Tried what?”

“Tried to get you to leave, that very first day on the skiff.” Catra said, her voice soft. “I… don’t blame you for staying now. You have other friends. You don’t need me like I needed you. But I wanted you to know that I tried to run away with you. Why do you think I plunged us directly into the Whispering Woods?”

Adora remembered the day. 

_ “Catra, be careful! Make sure there’s enough gas to get us home.” _

_ “That’s a problem for future us.” _

And it hit Adora over the head. It was a problem that Catra never intended to solve.

“It would have been us against the world.” Catra said.

“I’m…” Adora didn’t know what to say. She looked down, grabbing her arm. “I’m sorry it didn’t turn out that way.”

When Catra responded, she sounded less upset. But her voice was shallow, surface. It was an intentionally fabricated blankness that Adora had heard before. “It’s fine. I don’t know why I even suggested it in the first place. I wouldn’t want to leave Scorpia and Entrapta stuck there.”

It took Adora a long time to decide what to say. But when she finally said it, she knew that she had gotten it right. 

“If this war ever ends,” She said, softly. “We’ll find this place again. After. We’ll get back here, and stay for a little while. Just the two of us.”

Catra’s voice had emotion again when she spoke. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

She might not be able to go back in time and change the mistakes her younger self had made, and she felt guilty about that. But she was trying to make it right now, and that must count for  _ something _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here be the hurt/comfort chapter,, ur welcome.


	10. Chapter 10

They had everything they needed packed; what little they had (plus some emergency food) fit into Adora’s bag. The sun had sunk low on the horizon, sending purple light through the trees. Catra’s ear flicked as she listened into the woods, on alert. She wanted to make sure that if anything was waking up, she would hear it. 

“Are you ready?” Adora asked, moving to stand beside her. Adora was so much closer than she had been when they first started this journey; she had stopped holding Catra at arm’s length. Catra appreciated that, appreciated the trust. 

It made her feel like maybe, just  _ maybe _ , they could really make this work. 

But she had been stupid for thinking that Adora would stay here. 

Even though she  _ did _ still care about Adora more than anything else, Catra had… really benefited from having other friends, recently. Scorpia and Entrapta had formed her little squad, and she’d learned that you  _ could _ have multiple friendships. She was still incredibly hurt by and incredibly angry with Adora’s decision to leave, but… 

Catra was trying to understand that that didn’t take anything away from what Adora felt for  _ her _ . Just because Adora cared for Glimmer and Bow didn’t mean that she  _ didn’t _ care about Catra. 

Catra had realized quickly after her proposition that it was wrong of her. It had felt wrong while she was saying it. But once the proposition was out, Catra had to stand by it. It was a weird pride thing.

It had always been wrong of her to ask Adora to choose between her and the world. Now that she had healed a little bit, she was slowly realizing that she wanted Adora to have  _ both _ . 

And she knew that she had to find a way to convey that to Adora. But she had so little time, and so few ideas. She couldn’t just  _ say _ it. Her and Adora had grown up being manipulated and lied to; words didn’t mean anything to either of them any more. Catra knew that. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Catra said. The sky was now entirely blue with streaks of purple, and rapidly getting darker. Adora grabbed her sword, transforming, holding the glowing thing out as she walked past Catra. 

“Let me lead.” Adora said, “I can light the way.”

Catra rolled her eyes, mildly annoyed. “I can see in the dark, dumbass.”

Adora turned back, blinking. Then, she lowered her sword and smiled sheepishly. “Oh, right. Sorry. You can go ahead.”

Catra felt pleasantly surprised as she walked in front of Adora. Huh. Looked like Adora actually  _ was _ trying to acknowledge that she was capable. It looked like she wasn’t the only one taking their recent heart-to-hearts…. Well, to heart. 

Catra felt relieved. 

She slunk forward through the underbrush, tail flicking as her eyes scanned their surroundings. She could see little things through the trees; leaves moving, flickers of light where they shouldn’t belong. She could tell that the forest was coming alive. 

They were right. Night time was  _ definitely _ safer to travel. 

Err, well. Probably. Hopefully. Depending on the locals. 

“To the left.” Adora instructed. Catra knew that she was looking at the glowing screen of the map, and she was grateful to Adora for navigating. It let her do the fun stuff. 

Catra toed out in front of them, scenting the air. Her mouth was open and her ears shifted back and forth between facing forward and facing to the side, listening for anything that could mean danger. When she found no sounds, she picked up speed, dashing through the underbrush. 

The further into the forest they got, the lighter things became, and the less imperative Catra’s night vision was. The leaves were lighting up further away from the campsite, taking on a glowing quality that illuminated first inches, and then feet. Adora put her sword in her sheath, looking around at the vegetation in wonder. 

“Wow,” she breathed, “This place really is beautiful at night.”

Catra peered through the next batch of leaves, into a clearing. Her eyes widened as she realized that there were more of that creature they’d seen yesterday, the one that Catra had freed from the bug’s web. There were dozens of them. They had light blue, glowing markings that traveled across their bodies in swirls, allowing them to see as they knelt in the grass to graze.

Catra turned back towards Adora, an odd sense of peace washing over her. “Hey, look. Looks like a lot of things  _ have _ avoided the giant man-eating robots.”

“Whoa!” Adora said. Her voice echoed out over the clearing, causing several of the creatures to turn sharply towards them. One of them locked eyes with Catra, and she felt trapped in its gaze. None of them moved. 

“I think we should leave them alone.” Catra asserted, forcing herself to break eye contact with it. “They’ve probably dealt with enough.”

Adora glanced back down at the map, her brow furrowing. “Okay. Take us in that direction.”

Their journey was short, but those were far from the last animals that they saw on their way. Little feathery creatures with huge beaks and luminescent eyes scuttled across their path, small, plain stick bugs walked across branches. Once, Catra stepped without looking too closely at the ground and a little explosion of fairy-esque bugs suddenly appeared, dropping their camouflage and adapting a glow as they fluttered away. Adora and Catra had stayed frozen as they surrounded the two of them before rising into the heavens above.

Even Catra, who had never been one for scenery, was sad when they reached their destination. She could watch the look on Adora’s face as she smelled flowers she’d never seen before a million times and never get sick of it. There was a sickly sweet feeling growing in her chest. 

Alongside guilt. Seeing Adora so enraptured, so playful… triggered some unpleasant memories.

How many times had Catra personally ruined Adora’s fun?

Take, for example, the Princess ball. Catra had actively participated in destroying what was  _ supposed _ to be a fun night for Adora.

She shook the thought off, reminding herself that she didn’t have time to feel guilty. They were on a mission right now. She needed to be present. 

“Is this it?” She asked, curiosity piqued. Adora looked down at her navigation device, a little bit confused. 

“That’s what the map says.. But this doesn’t look  _ anything _ like the other one.”

The building seemed to be constructed out of some sort of brick material (or at least it looked like brick, Catra assumed that it was much more durable) that vines had crawled up, glowing ivy spreading across and illuminating large, open windows. It was a rectangular shape, with great big steps leading up to a pair of double-wide doors. Outside, a broken light somehow still managed to glow. Catra couldn’t see any glass underneath it. 

“Let’s check it out.” Adora insisted, immediately forging forward. Not that Catra would have done anything differently, but even  _ she _ knew it was a stupid move. 

“What if it’s booby trapped?” She reminded Adora. 

“What, now  _ you’re _ the responsible one?” Adora teased. Catra took it as a challenge and with a burst of speed jogged ahead of Adora, beating her and jogging up the steps. It felt nice to be reckless again, how she felt before she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. 

More than anything, this time with Adora had taught her that her new responsibilities in the horde… weren’t making her as happy as she used to be. Power made her feel  _ safe,  _ sure. But that was about it. 

Adora jogged up the steps behind her, and Catra felt a purr threaten to break out. They were going on  _ adventures _ together again. 

“Ready?” Adora asked, placing her hands on the door.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Catra said, excitedly. Her tail flicked behind her as Adora pulled with all her might, forcing the rusty doors to come open and reveal what was hidden inside. 

Catra peered in, and her ears sank. 

“Oh look, stairs,” She said, “How exciting.”

“Say, Catra,” Adora said, “Would you like to be in almost the exact same place, only higher?”

“Well, when you put it that way.” Catra said, walking through the door and immediately heading up the stairs. Catra cleared away some cobwebs with her hand, the sticky grey substance adhering to her fur. 

Adora followed in behind her. Catra paused at the top of the stairs, waiting for Adora to get there. In fact, she looked back, eager to see Adora’s reaction. 

Adora’s face lit up, wonder filling her eyes. Catra could see her filling with excitement, She-Ra’s hair flowing behind her speeding its magical dance. Her hands raised and balled into fists as she practically vibrated from excitement, leaning forward. 

Because it was  _ filled _ with books. 

Paper books were further back in the massive room, and ahead of that, there were rows and  _ rows _ of electronic books. Catra’s smile grew wider.

“It looks like we didn’t need to find any books after all. They seem to have found us.”

“Oh my God!” Adora said, running forward now that she had gotten over the initial shock. She went straight to the paperbacks towards the back of the room, and Catra knew that it was because of that “old book smell” Adora always used to talk about. The Horde’s education program had been around awhile without many updates to the curriculum, and whenever Adora got upset, she would hide in the little walk-in closet that they put all of their books in. Those books had been used to teach generations of Horde soldiers.

Catra would always stick around near the closet, making sure that nobody was going to bother her. 

“Finding anything interesting?” Catra asked. Adora was frantically running back and forth between the aisles, and Catra walked up to the very first row and leaned against the shelf. The books she was near were the electronic books, handheld devices clearly used to project words. 

“There’s just  _ so much! _ ” Adora shouted. “I don’t even know where to start!” 

Catra turned to look at the electronic reading devices, her hand reaching out automatically to run over their smooth surfaces. Her claws caught briefly on the edges before gliding to the next one, providing stimulation. She thought about how much information even one of them might hold, and her fingers itched.

She picked one of them up, looking at it in the light. Entrapta would  _ love _ this. She was holding a little piece of gold in her hands, a powerful weapon. Maybe even the Horde’s ticket to winning this war. 

“Catra, this book is on horticulture!” Adora shouted. Catra looked up, watching as Adora shoved the old book in her bag, emptying out a few “essentials” to make room for the stupid literature. It was an incredibly  _ Adora _ move, and Catra realized just how much she had missed Adora’s skewed priorities. A pang of longing shot through her, and the little electronic book in Catra’s hand suddenly felt hot.

She knew that once the war was won, Adora and her could be together. It didn’t  _ matter _ who won it. 

Every cell of her stood at attention with this thought. This was not  _ only _ everything she had envisioned when she first got promoted, it was  _ Adora,  _ too. And the key to her picturesque future might be sitting in her hand.

It wasn’t  _ all _ bad growing up in the Fright Zone. They would bring order. They would-

Bow and Glimmer’s faces flashed in her mind. 

She shook her head. Why should she care about  _ them _ ? They meant nothing to her. She could watch one of them bleed out in front of her and feel nothing but a cold indifference. She was a soldier. It wasn’t like they were  _ her _ allies. Scorpia and Entrapta-- wouldn’t it make them happy to win the war? Weren’t the people on her side important in this, too?

The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. It made no goddamned sense, but  _ something _ was stopping her from doing it. Some invisible force, and if she didn’t know herself better than that, she might even say that it was self control. 

She thought harder. If the Horde won… 

Well. The whole world would be trained up as soldiers, wouldn’t they?

Shadow Weaver… Hordak…. The way they were allowed or encouraged to bully each other… The way the Horde did things was wrong, and she had always known this. But could the Rebellion really be any better? Well, she didn’t know. 

She didn’t know whether or not you were allowed to disagree with or challenge your superiors in the rebellion. But she knew that it wasn’t allowed in the Horde. Even if she clawed her way to the top, she knew that there would be people under her. 

_ But I could make it different _ , she argued with herself,  _ I could make it better. _

And then, a terrifying thought. 

_ But would I? _

All that power…. The fear that comes with the thought of losing it…. That was what turned Shadow Weaver into who she was. 

Catra put the book back on the shelf like it was hot coals, and turned away, her arms wrapping around her chest. Her head hurt. She looked towards where she could hear Adora shuffling. 

“I’m gonna go look around a little.” She called. She didn’t want to be this close to temptation when it made her so damn  _ confused _ . 

“Okay.” Adora called back. “Be careful!”

“I never am!” Catra called back, before she could stop it. That was how she had always answered Adora when they were younger, and a wave of nostalgia was added to the emotional soup in her chest. 

She walked towards the left side of the room. There were doors there, which Catra assumed lead places. 

She didn’t have the energy for this kind of introspection right now. She was already feeling guilty about hurting Adora so much at the princess ball, and taking that opportunity away from her. Adora could have been having fun that night. Instead, she watched her two best friends get kidnapped. 

One thing at a time. Catra needed to deal with one thing at a time. 

She took a moment to calm herself. 

There had been one highlight of that night; the dance. 

The dance. Catra had fucking  _ loved _ dancing with Adora like that. Nothing in the history of her life had ever made her feel gayer than the mood lighting, the way Adora looked at her, the sexual tension  _ sizzling _ between their bodies. 

Catra regretted a lot of things from that night, but not the dance. The dance was… Well, perfect. 

Except for the end. 

Catra opened the door, and found herself looking down a carpeted hallway. There were more doors to either side, and a larger, ornate set of double doors down the hallway. Catra’s eyes immediately set on the larger, more classical prize. She strolled down the hallway, her tail flicking mischievously. Whatever this was, she had the feeling that it was going to be good. 

~~~ 

“Adora, come here!” She said, running out into the main library. She had spent a couple of minutes getting everything set up; making sure that the machine worked, clearing the center of the room by moving some misplaced chairs, found the lighting control pannel and dimmed the lights down low.

Catra was excited. 

Adora looked out at her from behind the bookshelf. She had her backpack on the ground and was shoving even more information about the first ones into it. It looked like it was about to burst already. 

“What is it?” She asked. Catra continued walking, swooping down when she was close enough and grabbing Adora’s arm lightly. Adora stood, following as Catra pulled her away from the books. Catra knew that there was no other way she was going to get her out of there without a fight. 

“Just c’mon,” Catra said, dragging her forward. “I have a surprise for you.”

Soon, they were in front of the double doors. Adora came to a stop and waited patiently while Catra realized that she had no clue how she was going to do this. 

“Cover your eyes.” Catra instructed, letting go of Adora’s hand. Adora obediently moved her hands over her eyes, popping one hip out as she impatiently waited for Catra to deliver. Catra walked forward and opened the double doors. “Walk forward. But keep your eyes closed!”

“Alright.” Adora laughed, stumbling forward a few steps. “I’d just like to point out, though, that a week ago I would have been convinced you were trying to kill me when you told me to do this.”

She was teasing, but Catra couldn’t help but feel a little bit hurt. “I never could have killed you.”

“I know. I’m sorry for the misjudgement before.”

Catra paused, blinking. That was…. Well, it wasn’t often that people actually  _ apologized _ to her. And definitely not in a casual setting, completely unprompted. Shadow weaver taught her that you apologize only when it’s beneficial to you. This was a different kind of apology; Adora had nothing to gain from this, aside from genuine forgiveness. Catra liked it. 

She ran over to the sound machine and moved the pieces into place; it had two hands that rested upon a large, round disk. Both of them had to be in opposite positions, one at the edge and one at the middle, to work. Then, she pressed a button, and the smooth, melodious sound she had heard before began to play. 

“Catra?” Adora questioned, curiosity and confusion in her voice. Catra jumped down and sauntered over to Adora, touching the hands covering her eyes lightly. Adora complied, removing them and taking in her surroundings. Her eyes flickered to Catra’s for a moment before she dissected the rest of the room. 

“Whoaaaaa,” Adora said, looking around in wonder. “Is this… a ball room?”

“I wanted to…. To make up for ruining prom for you.” Catra clarified. “I know you could have had a good time. I wish I could go back and do things differently. That was supposed to be a safe space, and I… Destroyed that.” Catra looked down, feeling guilt nip at her. She shook it off. “I was wondering if you wanted to redo our dance together?”

Adora’s eyes were sparkling in the low light given off by the dusty chandelier. Her voice was wet with emotion when she answered Catra with a definitive, “Yes.”

Catra reached out and grabbed one of Adora’s hand, her other hand falling onto Adora’s back. She pulled the other closer, passionately dissolving the distance between them. 

Even through the smell of dust and mildew that permeated the room, Catra could smell  _ Adora _ . There was always something distinctive about her, something familiar that flooded Catra’s senses. When she buried her face in Adora’s neck. Adora shivered, and Catra smiled, further molding her body to Adora’s. 

“So you’ll have me for this dance, Princess?” She confirmed, even as they began to spin. Both of them had learned the same dances in preparation for the Princess Prom, and they had silently agreed upon the most intimate of the set. 

“If you’ll have me in return.” Adora challenged. Catra moved her thumb slowly along Adora’s back in a comforting way, trying to show her just how  _ much _ she loved being this close. 

“I think I’ll give it a try.” Catra responded, smoothly. 

She took note of the light flush on Adora’s cheeks when they turned, separating and spinning briefly before coming back together. The beat of this music was slower, more invigorating…  _ hypnotic _ , if Catra was pressed to say it. 

Adora’s eyes were hooded, her lips parted as Catra’s hand fell on her back again. Catra found herself looking at Adora’s lips, instinctively pulling her partner closer. Adora leaned in towards her, and Catra could suddenly feel the ghost of Adora’s lips on hers, the feeling light but so fucking  _ tantalizing _ .

Before they could delve into the kiss they were spinning apart again. When they came back together, Adora quickly asserted herself into the dominant role, grabbing Catra’s waist and pulling her against her. Catra’s eyes widened, and embarrassment crept up as a purr that she couldn’t control erupted from her. 

Adora smiled. Catra felt less embarrassed as the warm feeling she’d felt before began to spread back across her chest. 

However, she wouldn’t be Catra if she didn’t try to turn the tables again. 

She knew that Adora was expecting it; next time they came back together, Catra grabbed Adora and firmly lead her into a dip. Adora let her neck roll back, exposing her slightly sunburnt skin to Catra. Catra’s leg snuck between Adora’s, and as Catra brought Adora up, Adora found Catra’s thigh pressing against her through her clothes. 

The satisfaction at Adora’s little noise of pleasure sent a thrill through her. Catra’s purring was louder now as arousal and heat swirled in the air between them. 

“You don’t play nice, do you?” Adora asked, a little breathless as Catra moved her leg back, back to following the “correct” dance moves. 

“Don’t know why naughty can’t  _ be _ nice.” Catra responded, tail flicking playfully behind her. 

God, they were treading  _ dangerous _ territory. Catra was becoming more and more aroused, more and more enticed by the game they were playing. She wondered whether or not Adora was actually interested in this, what with them parting ways once they went home tomorrow. Would Adora want her that way? Would she feel as though Catra wanting to actually fuck her was gross objectification since they couldn’t actually be together yet once they went back home?

Catra only knew one thing for certain. She was attracted to Adora, mind, body and  _ soul _ . Tomorrow be damned, she wanted this. And if Adora did too, then she would take her right on this marble floor. 

And she would allow herself to be taken, too. 

“I think I have to agree,” Adora said. They separated, their hands coming together so they could circle one another. “I’m learning that myself.”

Adora’s hand wasn’t fast, and it wasn’t determined. In fact, it was endearingly slow as Adora bit her lip, her free hand moving to grasp Catra’s hip, breaking them out of the dance. They came to a screeching halt as Catra froze, letting Adora figure herself out. 

After working up the courage, Adora reached around and grabbed a handful of Catra’s ass. Catra melted, pulling Adora as close as possible. God, she was so  _ cute,  _ so  _ tentative _ . Adora was curious about this, trying to make sure she didn’t take any missteps. Catra wanted to let her know that she was doing a good job. 

She leaned forward, purring as she pressed Adora’s lips against her own. 

Adora melted with her, and soon, they were both a puddle. Kiss after kiss, each one adding to the fire burning within them as hands started to roam, exploring each other’s bodies in truth for the first time. 

They had seen each other naked before. Catra knew every inch of Adora’s skin, knew the contoured lines of muscle along her arms that showed when they were bare, knew the subtle curve of her ass when she bent down to pick up a towel off the changing room floor. 

She’d touched Adora before. An accidental swipe across her breast in training, or openly smacking each other’s asses in passing, the time her arm got broken and Adora helped her button her pants for a month and a half while it healed. 

This was different. 

The fingers lingering on skin, the full on  _ grab _ of her breast that sent shockwaves of pleasure through Catra as her tail snaked around Adora’s waist. Catra had felt want before. But never on this scale, never his intensely. She had never known for certain that Adora wanted her back, sexually. And that had been okay with her. 

But now that things were different, well. Every touch was electricity along her skin. 

Adora pulled away, panting as catra reached down, slowly unbuttoning her pants. The button popped open, and Catra gave a pause as Adora caught her breath. 

“Are we really doing this? Do you  _ want _ this?” She asked. 

“Yes,” Adora breathed, and suddenly they were kissing again, falling onto the cold tile floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter was... rewarding. Tune in for the Next chapter, where yall finally get to stop arguing about who tops XD


	11. Chapter Eleven

Their bodies quickly warmed the hard floor beneath them.

As if Adora needed more warmth. She already felt like an inferno, consumed by the feelings for Catra that she had so long been repressing.

Catra’s lips were smooth and soft against her own, showing a kind of tenderness that Adora, had you asked her two weeks ago, wouldn’t have thought her still capable of. Adora melted under the attention, letting a sound into Catra’s mouth as her hand slowly made its way up Adora’s back, ghosting over her ribs before reaching its final destination. Catra gave Adora’s breast a squeeze.

They broke apart, and Adora looked into Catra’s glazed eyes. Her pupils were blown wide, dark with lust. Adora went in and Catra’s eyes closed again, lips pursed in anticipation for a kiss against her lips. Adora left her surprised.

Adora’s lips found her neck, and Catra began a low, rumbly purr. Adora smirked against her skin, a sense of triumph shooting through her at her ability to turn Catra on. She left a trail of hot, wet kisses up Catra’s neck, leading onto her jawline and stopping just before their lips met again.

“Tease,” Catra… well, teased. Adora grinned and pressed their foreheads together.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Why don’t I show you?” Catra offered. Her claws were out, and skirting around on Adora’s stomach. In a long, slow swishing motion, they made their way down, down, down….

Adora felt like this was moving _awful_ fast, but she wasn’t going to complain. In fact, she kinda liked it. Her libido took a vested interest in Catra’s slow, smooth movements, the sound of her purring. God, what would that purring feel like with Catra’s tongue on her cli-

Her train of thought was completely derailed as Catra’s hand stopped its descent, coming back up. Catra grabbed a fist-full of her hair and gave it a sharp tug. Adora gasped as the mixture of denial and the _smallest_ bit of pain made her pussy _throb_ with want.

“Let me know if there’s anything you don’t like,” Catra breathed, suddenly by her ear. Adora tried to nod, and Catra’s hand got tighter in her hair. Adora gave a moan as Catra moved, placing one of her legs between Adora’s as she leaned down, peppering kisses along Adora’s neck in the same way that she had done.

Adora felt _dizzy_. It didn’t feel like this was actually happening; it wasn’t how they said it was, back in sexual education class with Shadow Weaver.

_“If you have sex, you will DIE. AND get pregnant. In that order.”_

Then again, Adora had always known that she wasn’t all that reliable.

Adora glanced down at the leg between her own two. It was _so fucking close_ …. She could imagine Catra’s thigh rubbing up against her, stimulating her….

“Can I leave marks?” Catra asked.

“Yes, Gods, _yes_ ,” Adora enthusiastically consented. Catra picked a spot on her collar bone and gave a sharp _suck_ , causing Adora’s hips to buck. When they came back down, Catra’s thigh was against her groin. Adora gave a small whine, allowing her hips to move up and down.

Catra nipped at her skin, grinning in approval. Adora realized that she wasn’t getting any stimulation from this right now, and decided to fix that.

Reaching down, she grabbed a handful of Catra’s ass. Her leg came up so that her thigh was similarly placed against Catra, and Catra gave a moan, bucking backwards into the touch.

The _shock_ on Catra’s face would have been hilarious in any other situation. Right now, it made Adora flush with pride. Catra looked surprised by the enthusiasm that her own body had at the touch.

“You’re feistier than I would have expected. You haven’t been practicing with someone else, have you?” Catra asked, rocking gently so that Adora’s thigh rubbed up against her.

“No,” Adora breathed. “You _know_ I’m a virgin. You, on the other hand…..” Adora paused, thinking of that incredibly sexy lobster woman, “I’m not so sure.”

“I’m a virgin.” Catra confirmed. Adora wasn’t sure whether or not to be shocked. “Not that I couldn’t have gotten some if I _wanted_ to,” She quickly added, “I’ve just been focussing on me lately.”

“Well,” Adora said. She moved her hands from Catra’s ass, pawing at the bottom of her shirt instead. “Why don’t you let me focus on you for a bit instead?”

Catra lifted her hands off the ground and straightened her back, on her knees as she helped Adora remove her shirt. Her training bra was built-in, and came off with it. Two perky tits sat on her chest, pe **tit** e, but not insubstantial.

Adora took a moment to admire them, as she had many times before. This time was _different,_ sure, but they were still Catra’s amazingly perky boobs that Adora had envied for years.

But now, she got to _touch_ them.

Adora let her left hand come up, gently cupping Catra’s breast, before giving it a firm squeeze. Catra gasped, arching her back into the touch. Adora paid close attention, noting that she was sensitive to touch there.

She leaned forward, kissing in between them. She hoped that she was doing this right. She was following her instincts here, there was no guidebook. At least, not one that she knew of.

Adora moved to Catra’s nipple, kissing it. Catra’s body stilled, waiting for _something_. Adora opened her mouth and gave a tentative lick. Catra’s answering cry echoed through the empty ballroom.

Catra pulled away, shaking her head. She took a moment before swooping back in, hands on Adora’s shoulders pushing her back. Adora fell back onto her elbows, and Catra pulled at the bottom of her shirt, clearly wanting the two of them on even ground.

Adora helped her, shivering just a little as her breasts were exposed to the chilly air. She watched with helpless anticipation as Catra leaned down and used her tongue against Adora’s own nipple, treating it to short, rapid flicks.

Adora felt like there was a _direct_ line between her nipple and her clit. She arched again, rubbing her hips hard against Catra’s leg. The pressure of the increase in friction seemed to catch Catra’s interest and she backed off of Adora’s nipple, pulling up and looking at her for a moment before scooting back. Adora felt a sense of loss, and worry that she’d done something wrong. At least, until Catra’s hands began hovering around her waistband.

“May I?” Catra questioned. “Princess?”

“Yes,” Adora breathed, “Please.”

With a quick tug, Catra had She-ra’s short-skirt off and lying on the floor beside them, leaving Adora exposed. Since she had not been expecting to get laid, and they were in the middle of the damn woods, Adora was _not_ clean-shaven. She worried briefly that this would be a problem.

Catra slid forward again, lowering herself so that her chest hit the floor. Her hands slid up alongside the outside of Adora’s thighs, and she used the grip to pull her closer. Adora felt like her heart was in her throat as Catra began to kiss _slowly_ up her thigh.

The contrast of Catra’s wet, hot mouth and the coolness she felt after Catra moved on to the next spot was _delicious._ Adora’s hands naturally shifted down to run through Catra’s messy hair, pulling her closer, want refusing to allow her patience.

Catra ignored her, quite smugly continuing to kiss a line down Adora’s thigh. It wasn’t long before Adora was shaking, her body quaking under the weight of denial.

Finally, Catra’s lips hovered over her pussy. Adora felt herself tense, readying for-

And Catra moved right over it, her lips beginning to descend down Adora’s _other_ thigh instead.

Frustration and want fueled Adora’s embarrassingly desperate, “Catra, _please_.”

“Please what?” Catra asked, her voice deep and sensual. Her eyes flashed up at Adora.

“Please fuck me.” Adora whispered, abandoning all pride. She _needed_ this.

“With pleasure,” Catra purred, moving down towards Adora’s dripping wet-

“WAIT,” Adora said, a thought suddenly coming to her. Catra froze immediately, her head coming up as she waited for further instruction. “You don’t have a sandpaper tongue, do you?”

Catra blinked. “You’re an idiot.”

She started her descent again, ignoring Adora’s _perfectly valid_ question.

“Alright, I’ll take that as a no. Carry on then.” Adora said, knowing that Catra would have hesitated if she didn’t reinforce the consent she had already given.

Catra’s breath ghosted over her labia, and Adora felt her whole body tense. She tried to force herself to relax, but every cell in her sang with _want_. Catra moved closer, closer, closer, until-

Catra’s tongue started out a flat surface, licking small, straight lines up Adora’s clit. They were light, teasing licks that set Adora’s hips on fire but ultimately provided no release from the lust that rose in her. Catra’s tongue was hot and wet and hitting all of the right places not out of skill, but simply out of _hitting all the places_.

Catra’s tongue slowly became pointed, Catra swapping out her longer, thicker strokes for thinner, more concentrated ones. Still, her touch was light against Adora’s soft skin, and she felt that it might drive her crazy before it got her off.

Catra’s tongue moved in closer and closer, until it found her clit. Catra spun little circles around it and Adora saw _stars_ , crying out as waves of _heat_ resonated through her body. She tugged on Catra’s hair, feeling way too close and not close enough and _holy shit so fucking hot_.

“C-Can you add a finger?” She asked. Catra didn’t stop from her slow, consistent working against Adora’s clit, but Adora felt a finger slide into her vagina and curve upwards. Catra’s finger pushed _hard_ against her gspot, and Adora wondered if Catra had somehow obtained the knowledge of _exactly_ how she liked to masturbate.

Catra’s finger moved in quick strokes against her gspot as Catra’s tongue finally sped up to match. Adora felt that this was _stimulating_ , even though Catra’s tongue was still only lightly licking. Adora just wished that Catra would push a _little_ bit harder…

Then again, maybe this was _better_ , this want. It was pretty fucking hot, how badly she wanted it.  Catra knew what she was doing, Adora realized.

The slow, steady build in her groin reinforced this idea. Adora was getting close. In fact, she felt _right on the edge_ , like her feet were dangling over and all she needed was a little bit more speed from Catra to get there.

Then, as if by some sort of mind-reading miracle Catra knew, her tongue pushed down just a _little_ bit harder, brushing directly over Adora’s hardened clitoris.

Adora’s muscles contracted and she gasped, hips unable to stop from thrusting up and down as her orgasm hit her in waves. Despite the difficulty, Catra followed her up and down through it, and Adora finally stopped, going slack against the floor. Catra pulled off, wiping her mouth as she crawled back up Adora’s body.

She lowered her chest against Adora’s, smirking at her. “So, did I do a good job?”

“Where did you learn to _do_ that?” Adora asked, breathless.

“There was a secret library filled with erotica back at the Horde.” Catra informed her. “Scorpia said that you learned about it during force captain training. She showed me where it was.”

“Will you teach me?” Adora asked, immediately. She sat up, but she could barely feel her muscles as she moved. Catra lightly pushed her shoulder back down, cuddling up on top of her.

“Yes, but first. I’ve been told that _some_ people might like this affectionate bullshit.”

Adora knew that Catra was doing it as much for her own benefit as she was for Adora’s, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

“Catra?” She whispered, wrapping her arms around her partner and pulling her closer. Catra began to purr loudly.

“Y-Yeah?” Catra asked. Adora grinned. She always had trouble talking when her purring was out of control like this.

“Thank you. That was amazing.” She kissed Catra on the forehead, and Catra nuzzled into her chest.

After a few minutes of cuddling, Adora slowly and gently pushed Catra off. She rolled over, rising to her knees, before grabbing Catra’s shoulder to push her down. Catra went with her, rolling over onto her back and allowing Adora to crawl over her. She looked nervous now, and Adora knew that it had been awhile since Catra had been this intimate with anyone.

“Are you okay?” She asked, gently.

“Just… Go slow, okay?” Catra requested, one of her hands coming up to grab Adora’s hair. “I was kinda expecting to be on top for this part.”

Adora felt a flash of lust jolt through her at this, but knew that Catra needed to sit back and _relax_ this time. She could sit on her face later. Catra never let people in, never let people close to her, she never gave up _control_. Adora wanted her to, if she could, just this once. To allow herself to be loved.

“If you want me to stop at any time, please tell me.” Adora said, slowly beginning to move down Catra’s body. She stopped at Catra’s nipples, delicately taking one into her mouth and rolling it around with her tongue. Catra hissed and pulled Adora’s face closer, and Adora sucked for another moment before moving on to the next one. Her hand came up off the floor as her fingers found Catra’s still-wet nipple, so she could stimulate both of them at once.

Once Adora felt as though Catra had received the proper amount of attention (Once Catra’s hips were canting upwards and her legs were spread so far her knees practically touched the floor) she finally moved down to Catra’s dripping-wet pussy.

Her clit wasn’t hooded like Adora’s. It was a small little nub, exposed and hard. Adora knew that Catra would have different sensitivities than she did, and she hoped that she could get this right.

She leaned forward, following her instincts as she began with long, slow licks up Catra’s labia. Catra’s hand tightened in her hair, encouraging her to speed it up already. But Adora wasn’t going to do anything unless she heard a verbal _request_.

She continued, pressing some wet kisses to the inside of Catra’s thighs, her labia, and her public mound. Adora allowed her lips to graze delicately over Catra’s clitoris, and she couldn’t help but be amused as she felt Catra’s frustration radiating off of her in waves.

“Addooooorrrraaaaaa,” Catra complained, looking down.

“What?” Adora asked, innocently.

“You found a magical sword in the forest on your own, do I _really_ have to draw you a map to my clitoris?” She sassed. Adora laughed, muffling the sound into Catra’s thigh. “Seriously though, please?”

Adora felt a rush of power at getting Catra to ask. She brought the tip of her tongue to a point and pressed it lightly against Catra’s clitoris. Catra cried out, her hips thrusting upwards. Adora savored the motion.

Catra tasted salty and a little bit bitter (likely partially due to her aversion to fruits and vegetables), but she didn’t mind. As she gave light swipes across Catra’s clit with her tongue, Catra slowly but surely came unraveled. Adora found that the repetitive motion was almost hypnotic, and Catra’s enthusiasm was infectious.

Adora found herself in a sort of haze; the only thing that existed was Catra, and her only objective became to give her pleasure. Despite the fact that she was in control of this situation, she felt powerless to her own desire. She was _going_ to get Catra off.

Her tongue moved, suddenly, side to side. This change in movement made Catra cry out, her thighs beginning to tremble.

“A-Adora,” Catra breathed. “Fuck, Adora. I… keep going. Please. I feel so close.”

Adora continued, her tongue swishing from side to side, careful not to put too much pressure on Catra’s sensitive clitoris. Catra tensed, her hips bucking and her thighs struggling to stay open as she shook, teetering on the edge.

“Fuck!” Catra spat, gasping. Her hips bucked up and down and Adora chased them, continuing to lavish Catra’s clitoris with attention as she rode out her orgasm. Adora felt a deep satisfaction wash over her as Catra lay there, panting.

She always wanted to make Catra feel good. Although she knew she probably made some beginner’s mistakes her first time, she had done a good job. She had paid Catra back for the pleasure she had given her; she felt accomplished.

“Was that okay?” She asked, ducking under Catra’s leg and sliding up behind her. She wrapped one arm around Catra’s torso, pulling Catra’s back against her chest.

“Yeah,” Catra said, simply. She was more relaxed than Adora had seen her in awhile.

Adora lay down, and she felt a wave of comfortable exhaustion begin to pull her under. Catra seemed perfectly comfortable, their bodies warming each other even on the cool tile floor. She felt ridiculously content, her hormones making her feel more at peace than she had in awhile.

“Thank you.” Adora said, sleepily. It was mumbled into Catra’s back, and she wasn’t even sure that Catra had heard it until she responded.

“For what?” Catra asked, shocked.

“For a first time that meant something.” Adora said, simply. “I love you.”

“I…” Catra hesitated, and Adora could hear the struggle in her voice. Just as she was about to cut in, about to tell Catra that it was okay if she couldn’t say it back yet, she was cut off. “I love you too.”

Adora felt herself relax. It was like warm sunshine was radiating from within her. After a few moments of quiet, Catra broke the silence.

“Hey Adora?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to say it tomorrow, so I’m saying it now. It’s going to be hard leaving you this time.”

“It always is.” Adora whispered.

But she couldn’t think of it right now, didn’t want to. The only thing that existed in this moment was the two of them, and this empty room. Nothing else mattered.

“Goodnight.” Catra said, softly. Adora pulled her closer against her chest, if it was even possible. Catra was still softly purring, creating a soothing vibration against her.

“Goodnight.” Adora said, and allowed herself to be lulled into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments feed my soul


	12. Chapter Twelve

The sunlight filtering through the glass panes and landing on Catra slowly brought her into awareness. She shifted, the rough fabric of the couch pulling at her. 

After a couple of hours on the floor, the cold had woken her and Adora (sleeping on marble entirely naked without a blanket wasn’t exactly their  _ smartest _ idea ever) and they had moved out to one of the couches in the main library, pausing to put on their clothes and take a moment for some hygiene. 

They had snuggled up together and promptly fell back asleep, Catra lying snug on top of Adora’s chest. 

It was morning and the light hit her, warming her skin. Catra slowly came into consciousness, but her relaxation and position against Adora coaxed her into stillness. 

She knew that they would have to get up soon. The temple was close, and this had been a convenient stop along the way. But Adora had to get home to her rebellion. And Catra had to go back to the Horde. 

As much as she was dreading it, she had to admit that she was concerned about Scorpia. That big oaf was probably bawling by now. 

Adora shifted underneath her, groaning. Catra realized that her time was up, and wordlessly shifted, then lowered her feet onto the floor, standing up. A pang went through her chest as she looked down at Adora, who was blinking the sleep from her eyes as she slowly sat up. 

Catra turned away, letting the feeling fade into numbness. 

“Are you ready to go?” She asked, quietly. 

“As ready as I can be.” Adora responded. 

~~~  

It didn’t take them long to figure out that the library was  _ on top _ of the temple, but it  _ did _ take them some time to kill the giant robot spider guarding the entrance to the portal room. Once they were able to get past it, they stood in the portal room, the wires buzzing as Adora leaned down, inspecting the inscriptions. 

“Why don’t we just do what we did last time?” Catra complained, groaning. 

“Because we don’t want you to get electrocuted.” Adora reminded her.

“You’re rubber, I’m glue,” Catra mocked, “Everything you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.”

“I don’t see how that has anything to do with-” Adora stopped mid sentence, sitting up and looking at Catra. “Rubber doesn’t conduct electricity.”

“Why do we have to leave? It’s so nice being around someone who actually  _ gets _ my jokes again.” Catra complained, half-heartedly. 

“We have to leave because if you tell another joke like that again it won’t be the electricity that takes you out.” Adora threatened, playfully. 

“Oh, offering to take me out, are we?” Catra purred, “Where are we going?”

“The grave.” Adora said.

“How emo,” Catra swooned, “It’s perfect! You know me so well.”

Suddenly, it roared to life as Adora pressed a button on the side. Catra jumped, staring at the portal in shock. Adora turned around, dusting off her hands and looking more than a little proud of herself. 

“I think that we’re all ready to go now.” 

Catra looked between Adora, and the portal. The weight of what they were about to do crashed down on her like a ton of bricks, and she blinked, staring at the portal. When they walked through that portal, into the unknown, they would be back in Etheria. She would be back at the Horde. They would be back in the war. 

“You first.” Adora said, waving her forward. She was mimicking the words that Catra had spoken to her when they had first began this journey together. Catra felt a million emotions flash through her mind at once, none of them good. 

She didn’t want to go back there. She didn’t want them to be enemies again. She had felt so free here with Adora, free of expectation, free of  _ judgement _ . But she knew that as soon as she stepped through that portal, they would begin to drift again. 

How many days until it felt like they were strangers?

She turned to Adora, suddenly intense. 

“Promise me again.” She commanded. 

“Promise you what?” Adora asked, confused. 

“Promise me that when all of this is over, we’ll be together again. Promise me I’m not walking through that portal and back to you  _ hati-” _ she choked up then, her breath coming quicker as she doubled over, one of her hands clutching at her chest as tears welled in her eyes. 

“Catra!” Adora said, panicked. Catra forced herself back upright, reminding herself that she had things other than Adora. 

She had things other than Adora. And if this was going to work out, at any point in time, she needed to learn how to be on her own. Because things might  _ not _ work out. And being here wasn’t going to change that. 

But she still didn’t think she could take it if Adora hated her. 

“Catra,” Adora said, softly. Her hand landed firmly on Catra’s shoulder, and Catra took a deep breath. She turned and looked in Adora’s sparkling, honest eyes. “I could  _ never _ hate you. I’m going to  _ miss you _ , so much.”

“I just-” Catra breathed deeply. She reminded herself of the friends she had back at the Horde, the people she didn’t want to- no,  _ couldn’t _ \- leave behind. “This sucks so bad, Adora.”

“I know.” Adora said, softly. 

Catra took a moment to steady herself. Once she was finished, she looked up at Adora. Adora’s eyes were filled with so much  _ love _ , and for once, Catra believed her. This sucked for Adora, too. 

“One last kiss, for the road?” Catra asked, her ears pushing back as she leaned up. Adora came down, pressing a kiss against her lips. It was firm, and steady, and spread a heat through Catra’s chest that made her  _ ache _ . The warmth was enough to last a lifetime. 

Adora pulled away, and they sat there, breathing, foreheads pressed up against each other in the cool blue light of the portal. 

When they pulled away, Catra’s resolve had returned. Every trace of her momentary breach in composure was gone. She looked towards the portal, and back towards Etheria. 

“Wanna go through together?” She offered, extending a hand towards Adora. Adora gratefully took it, and they walked together through the light and back into their own world. 

Catra looked up at the high ceilings of the temple, and felt small. Light Faith flickered to life in front of them, and Adora stepped forward. Catra turned, knowing that the more she let herself look at Adora, the harder this was going to be. 

“What is your inquiry?”

“How do we get out of here?” Adora questioned. 

Suddenly, lights illuminated one of the tunnels to their right. 

“Thank you,” Adora said, because she had been raised with good manners. 

They both walked out of the grand room and into the thin hallway, following the light. Their footsteps echoed in the eerily tight passage, and Catra tried to look at her feet. Adora was uncharacteristically silent. 

It didn’t take long before they were back at the entrance, where they had started this journey. Catra listened to the sound of Adora’s feet on the gravel behind her as she quickened her pace, needing to leave. She needed to go, before she changed her mind. 

Because this time, she was leaving Adora as much as Adora was leaving her. 

“Wait!”

Catra stopped. 

She was almost to the foliage she had entered this place through, at the top of the hill about a mile into the whispering woods. It would be so easy to just keep walking. But she didn’t want Adora to think that it was because she was having second thoughts about their agreement, so she didn’t. 

She turned around, and Adora reached into her backpack, searching for something. 

She pulled out one of the little electronic books from the library, outstretching her arm towards Catra. 

“You can’t go back empty handed.” She argued. “Not after being gone for so long.”

Catra looked at the book. She looked back up at Adora. “You made sure it was something completely useless, right? I don’t want to hand Entrapta some building maintenance manual she could use to build a super robot. I want the war to be over, but I don’t want your friends dead.” 

“It’s porn. She can still learn some from the reader itself, but I doubt she’d be able to decipher the code without a key anyways.”

“Okay,” Catra said. She grinned at the idea of handing Entrapta ancient porn. “I hope this doesn’t inspire anything. If she built a vibrator, I would have no clue how to call her out.”

“You don’t.” Adora said, firmly. 

“I agree. Thank you, for looking out for me.” Catra said. 

“When I can, I always will.” Adora responded. “But I know you can take care of yourself.”

And with that, they both turned, their conversation having come to its natural conclusion. Neither of them wanted to say goodbye, and the unsaid word hung between them in the air. 

Catra tried not to think about Adora as she hiked back through the forest, instead focussing on her frustration at the amount of leaves that were getting caught in her hair. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

 

**SIX MONTHS LATER**

Adora, for once, knew exactly how she’d gotten into this situation.

Now that Catra and her had this… _agreement_ , she had assumed that this was no longer a possibility. She had assumed that Catra would protect her from behind the scenes, be her savior if she was ever put in this situation.

But the time of reckoning had come and Catra was nowhere to be found.

“This way, _Prisoner,_ ” Octavia sneered, yanking on the rope wrapped around her wrists. Adora stumbled forward, her feet almost tripping her up as they moved forward. She could hear in the distance the great rumbling of a crowd that was thirsty for blood. Her blood, to be precise.

~~~

Once she had gotten back from her little adventure, she had found that time worked differently on the First Ones’ planet. They’d only been gone the equivalent of thirteen Etherian hours. In theory, this made it the best place _ever_ to take a vacation.

Bow and Glimmer had been worried sick.

Glimmer had immediately forced her into one of the royal tubs (one of the ones with all the best oils and a circular fizzy thing that turned the water pink and made it smell like sandalwood. Glimmer had brushed the leaves and dirt out of her hair by force as she interrogated Adora about the adventure.

“She did _WHAT?!_ ” Glimmer had shrieked, tugging hard at Adora’s hair. Adora was blushing like mad. “On the _floor?_ Adora, I’m not judging you, but that’s the _least_ romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It wasn’t like we had many options!” Adora defended. She had almost regretted telling Glimmer at that point.

“She could have at _least_ tried to find a candle or something. Mood lighting, flowers, a blanket to spread across the floor! Romance isn’t that hard, Adora. You’re worth more than-”

“Hey.” Adora cut her off. “I know this is about more than just the sex. And… It’s not all her fault. If I had gone back to the Horde and invited her to come with me before we saw each other on that battlefield, things would have been different.”

“She’s still with the horde now.” Glimmer had pointed out. Adora’s stomach sunk.

“Yeah.” She said, quietly. She slipped a couple of inches further down into the tub, letting the heat of the water soothe her aches.

~~~

Octavia pulled her forward and shoved her into an elevator. The walls were bars of steel, and she could hear the mechanical whirring beginning above her as Octavia slammed shut the metal door, trapping her.

Briefly, the thought that now she knew what it was like to be a caged animal crossed her mind.

~~~

After their encounter, things with the Horde got pretty hit-and-miss. They won some, they lost some. Catra and her would fight for the show of it, but it was more dance than battle. She could see the hurt reflected in Catra’s eyes; how much it hurt her to have to pretend like this. It hurt Adora, too.

Adora liked to think that they both secretly wished for another chance meeting in the woods, some time alone, when the war wouldn’t stand between them like a supervisor at princess prom telling them to leave room for Jesus.

But that day had, sadly, never come.

Adora had felt the connection between them fizzling, fading. She wondered whether or not Catra could feel it leaving, too. She wondered whether or not the _anger_ Catra had felt towards her had taken its place again.

~~~

“I hope you’re ready for judgement day, _Princess,_ ” Octavia sneered, pressing her face against the bars. Her grin was wide and gleeful. Adora honestly was surprised that Octavia hadn’t just finished the job herself while they were down here. It would have spared her the worry. After all, there could still be a rescue party.

But Adora knew that that chance was _slim_.

~~~

Slowly, the Horde had been developing better and better technologies.

During their last battle, Entrapta had ridden in on some giant mechanical scorpion, stinger ripping through the air and heading directly towards her friends. Entrapta’s laugh was… _haunting,_ to say the least.

Whatever they would be using to keep the rebellion out, it would be more than they were able to handle.

And Catra had been… more vicious than usual, in that last battle. She desperately clawed at Adora, sweat beading on her forehead, dripping down until she had to wipe it to stop it from running into her eyes. There had been a frantic fury to her movements, and Adora had _not_ been able to dodge all of them. -

The sting of Catra’s claws against her flesh had honestly made Adora doubt that she was still on team “after the war”. Every mark on her skin had felt intentional. The cuts weren’t just physical, after that fight.

She didn’t think Catra would be saving her this time.

~~~

The elevator began its ascent, the movement under her feet shaking her as she went up. Octavia’s face still pressed against the bars, Adora had to make a quick decision; one last act of rebellion, for old time’s sake.

She took a step back and jumped, her feet slipping through the bars with precision as she drop-kicked Octavia directly in the solar plexis.

The pain she felt upon landing was nothing compared to the howl that Octavia gave, and Adora felt a deep satisfaction. She couldn’t help but think of how happy it would make Catra when she found out. If she found out.

Adora quickly scuttled back in the elevator to avoid Octavia returning the blow (not that it would matter if she did; it’s not like Adora would feel it in the morning). She rolled to her stomach and pushed herself up, knees sliding against the rusty floor as she struggled to stand. The crowd grew louder and louder as the elevator moved upwards.

It came to a halt, the mechanics screeching as it stabilized. The door opened and Adora looked out at the stadium of people, surrounding her on all sides.

She had long ago decided that the Horde was a bad place. She knew that a lot of the people here were bad people. But when the crowd began to boo, a deafening sound as each and every one of them voiced their displeasure. And she wasn’t one to cry easily, but all of her old friends, her colleagues, her _family_ , cheering for her death… That brought tears to her eyes.

But she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. 

Her head held high, she walked out of the elevator and onto the stage. 

The lights almost blinded her; she couldn’t see most of the audience. She couldn’t hear her own footsteps against the stage, but felt them as her feet landed. Her hip ached where she’d hit the floor after drop-kicking Octavia. 

There were guards to either side of the stage. There was no point struggling, no point in trying to escape. Even as adrenaline filled her body, she knew that she had made her peace with death.

She stepped onto the platform in the middle of the stage, turning to face the crowd. The booing was fading off as everyone settled in. The lights dimmed, and Adora felt a jolt go through her. 

There, in the front row, Hordac had stood from his lavishly decorated front seat. To his right, Catra sat, looking outright  _ bored _ as she glanced at her nails. 

Adora had never felt the kind of pain that shot through her at that moment. Her heart attempted to tear itself from her chest, mutinying in its fixed position. Her lungs turned to newly opened balloons, too tight to receive more than the bare minimum amount of oxygen. Her stomach had turned into a small fire, her own personal hell as she watched the girl that she was in  _ love _ with look thoughtfully at her  _ nails _ during her execution. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Hordac spoke, his voice immediately silencing the masses. A soldier came up behind Adora, rolling the wooden frame forward with him. Adora felt the rope rub against her skin as he forced the noose over her neck, tightening it. She couldn’t look away from Catra. “As I’m sure you’re all aware, you’re here today to witness the downfall of the once great She-Ra.”

Another chorous of boos, which were silenced with a wave of his hand. 

“I won’t keep you from your entertainment with too many formalities; so I’ll just say this,” Hordac continued to blather on, and his voice faded into the background. 

Adora watched as Catra finally looked up, their eyes meeting. Catra’s face was a carefully crafted mask as she gazed upon her former lover. Adora saw a quick movement to Catra’s right side, and she watched as the hand Catra had been looking at unfolded, her thumb holding something in place. 

It was the book that Adora had given her. 

Adora felt a brief flash of hope, but she tried to stomp it out. It could have been a taunt.  _ Look at you. You trusted me, and I betrayed you. I’m not even all that sad that you’re dying.  _

“-With the end of She-Ra, so will come the end of the Rebellion!” Hordac announced. Cheering broke out, and he let this one simmer for a bit before cutting it off with another succinct motion of the hand. Adora looked away from Catra, and then closed her eyes so that she couldn’t let herself look back. 

Once silence had resumed again, Hordac finished. 

“NOW!”

Adora, allowing the darkness behind her eyelids to comfort her in her final moments, waited for death. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I seriously considered ending the fic here for a woman-and-the-tiger-esque ending  
> Anyways please comment!  
> EDIT: This chapter was missing like half a page. Oops.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Catra watched, her face a carefully controlled mask, as the noose was lowered around She-Ra’s neck. Rationally, she knew that she should be terrified. She didn’t know how this would turn out, whether or not she had planned accordingly. She didn’t even know whether or not Adora had gotten her message; the book pressed in her palm, a message in a language only they could understand reading  _ trust me _ . 

“NOW!” Hordac roared, and the world went into slow motion as all the panic that Catra had been concealing came out at once. 

Bow’s arrow took  _ far _ too long to appear, slicing through the rope in one clean sweep. 

~~~

When Catra had gotten back from their little vacation together, she had immediately gone to Entrapta and confessed to manipulating her. Entrapta was hurt, to say the least. 

“How can I trust you now?” She had demanded, her closed fist shaking. “Since you apparently convinced me all of my friends hated me?”

“I’m…” Catra felt guilt crash over her as she realized that that was one of the tactics Shadow Weaver had used against her. She had misbehaved so much in part because Shadow Weaver was  _ constantly _ telling her that everyone else hated her guts. So why would she play nice, since they already detested her so much? “I’m sorry.”

Entrapta had softened at that, the light from her computer monitor glowing across her face as she turned to look at Catra. “So, what’s your plan?”

“Plan?” Catra asked, confused. 

“Yeah. If this really is an evil organization, don’t you want an out?”

Catra thought. 

“Honestly, I only see one possibility.” She said, after a moment. “We play the long game.” 

~~~

Adora’s eyes snapped open once the pressure was removed from her neck. Catra watched in relief as she sprang forward immediately, launching herself off of the platform just before it snapped open. Okay, so  _ that _ actually  _ wasn’t _ the plan, but it was alright.

Catra watched Adora’s eyes scan the crowd as she looked for Bow, desperately. 

Catra turned, seeing Hordac stand in rage. She jumped up onto her seat and launched herself without thinking, digging her claws into his face from behind and raking them as deep into his flesh as she could possibly shove them. She let out a hiss as he flailed, attempting to throw her off. 

As soon as she felt he was decently incapacitated, she used him as a launching pad and shot herself onto the stage. Bow had already managed to make his way there, and he was helping Adora (whose hands were still tied together) to fight off the guards attempting to overwhelm her. 

Catra landed and ran towards Adora, using her claws to slice through the rope. Adora’s eyes met hers, and Catra knew that she had had her fooled during that final battle. There were a million unsaid words between them. 

That would have hurt, right after they split. But Catra had learned a very important lesson during her time in the Horde; Adora’s opinion was allowed to be important to her, but it was far from the only one that mattered. 

~~~

Catra lay on her bed, face down. She gave a groan, her chest aching with longing, regret, and… self-hatred. Yup, it was still there. 

Adora had told her it was okay that she stayed in the Horde. She had forgiven her, more or less. And once her plan was executed, Adora would even think she was a  _ good  _ person. She knew that for certain. 

So why did she still feel like this?

“Maybe,” Scorpia said, from her presence on the couch Catra had pressed against the wall, “You feel upset because  _ you _ don’t think you’re a good person.”

“What are you, my therapist?” Catra complained. Scorpia always had this way of wringing everything out of her. She was always just…. So damn  _ understanding. _

“Well, I did score all As on my psychology and social intelligence exams.” Scorpia said. “Which I can say proudly because I have a certain level of self-esteem. You, on the other hand…. Eh.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Catra said, slowly, “It doesn’t actually matter what Adora thinks of me. Because as long as  _ I _ see me as a bad person, I’m always going to feel like this. Adora or no Adora.”

“Right,” Scorpia agreed. “So if you want the two of you to have a healthy relationship, you need to work on your relationship with yourself first. Because, and I love you, Catra, but this is true,” Catra rolled over and side-eyed her, “You tend to blame other people for thoughts you have. You’ll just end up blaming Adora and projecting your feelings of self-hatred onto her.”

Scorpia had put on one of those annoying pairs of psychology glasses for this and everything. 

“Okay,” Catra responded, slowly, “And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Hmmmmm.” Scorpia raised a pen to her chin, deep in thought. “I’d recommend beginning with some morning affirmations. Look yourself in the mirror, and list three things that you love about yourself.”

Catra rolled back over, groaning into her pillow again. 

“Do you have any idea how much of a fucking idiot I’m going to feel like doing that?!”

But she still listened. 

~~~

“Bow, we need to go,” Catra hissed, turning towards him briefly. He nodded, and turned back towards where Adora had been standing before the door opened. 

“There’s a mattress at the bottom, there’s a mattress at the bottom,” He reminded himself, voice cracking. Catra didn’t even try to hide her annoyance. 

“C’MON, DUDE.”

Bow jumped, screeching the whole way down. Catra grabbed Adora’s wrist and pulled her towards the chute. “Your turn, Princess.” 

Adora jumped down the chute, also yelling like an idiot. Catra decided firmly that she was going to be much cooler than that.

She heard an angry growl from  _ way too close _ behind her, and she couldn’t wait any more. The sound of phasers being charged was deafening, and she knew that a few more seconds would mean her life. 

Catra jumped down the chute, and into her new life. 

The last thing she saw before the doors slammed shut was Hordak’s absolutely furious face leaning over to glare at her, one of his hands clutching his eye. 

~~~

When Adora ended up captured, Catra had been terrified. 

They had planned to leave silently, a few weeks down the line. But Hordak had scheduled her execution  _ days _ from now. 

Catra wondered whether or not he suspected something. 

Entrapta  _ had _ been taking it easy on them, compared to some of her past work. And Catra had gotten  _ soft _ in her battles with Adora, not wanting to make her think that she’d gone back on their promise. So, they had stepped it up for their last battle. 

Turns out, Hordak had something better planned. 

He used a prototype that Entrapta had built upon request; it basically mimicked Netossa’s powers, and although Entrapta insisted that she wasn’t done with it yet, all it took was one careful aim to have Adora in their clutches. 

It was a pretty big “ _ Oh shit _ ” moment, all in all. 

As soon as they were back at the base, as  _ soon _ as they were out of the range of prying ears, Catra had laid out their (admittedly rushed) new and improved ‘fuck the horde’ plan. 

“But how are we going to pull off the escape?” Scorpia asked, once they were done. Catra leaned over the plans, pushing the random objects she had assigned to them out of place as she stared at them intensely.

“We bring in some help from the outside.”

~~~

Once they landed in the laundry room, it was a matter of evading the guards that would surely be coming. 

Bow was already out, which meant that-

“Adora!” Glimmer said, appearing from thin air. Adora immediately threw herself in her friend’s arms. Glimmer disappeared as quickly as she’d come, leaving not a trace of her behind. 

Catra paced nervously as she waited for Glimmer to come back and pick her up. She was certain that Adora wouldn’t leave without her, but she definitely didn’t trust faith, trust, and pixie dust. The air was heavy with expectation. That, and dryer lint. 

Then, Catra felt a hand on her elbow, pulling her away and towards the halls. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was standing in the hallway on the other side of the room. Glimmer had a half-smirk on her face, and Catra realized that she was, ugh, showing emotion. 

This one, in particular, was shock. 

“What, didn’t think I’d come back for you?”

“No!” Catra responded, defensively. 

“Guys! No time!” Adora reminded them, running down the hallway. She likely already had the rest of their plan figured. (Especially since part of it was already hers). 

“Right.” They said, in unison. Glimmer and Catra made a face at each other, before mutually agreeing they would show their disgust at that at a later point in time. 

~~~

“And  _ why,  _ exactly,” Glimmer demanded, glaring intensely, “Should I trust  _ you _ ?”

It was the dead of night in Brightmoon, and Catra had decided to undertake this as a stealth mission. She was dressed in head to toe, and crouching in Glimmer’s bed. Her sheer nightgown had just as much glitter as you would expect. 

“Because you have no other choice, because I was Adora’s best friend long before you, because I could have just killed you in your sleep just now if I really wanted to?”

Glimmer’s eyes narrowed. 

“Maybe you just came to tear up my bedsheets.” She observed, ridiculously. Catra’s mouth dropped open. 

“Who sleeps in a bed ten feet off the ground?!” She demanded. “I  _ had _ to grab onto  _ something _ to get up here, and you left them dangling down!”

“Shhhhhhh,” Glimmer reminded her, holding a finger to her lips. A moment passed, in which Catra remembered that the rest of the castle was sleeping. “Alright, I’ll go with your plan. But we have to keep as few people involved in this as possible. I don’t want to put many people in danger.”

“My plan only needs you and Bow to work.”

~~~

They stopped at the chambers, the glowing green light shining out towards them as Catra quickly typed in her settings, hesitating before hitting send. She waved Bow, Glimmer and Adora into the first chamber, but Adora hesitated, only one foot making it inside. 

“What are you doing?” Adora asked. “You’re coming with us, right?”

“We’re waiting for Scorpia.” Catra said, glancing down the hall. God, where was that big dumb lobster lesbian when you needed her?

“Shouldn’t she be here by now?” Bow questioned, his voice cracking. 

Just then, Scorpia rounded the corner. With a  _ very _ angry Lonnie on her tail. 

“CATRA, SOMEONE FOUND OUT!” She yelled, sprinting down the hallway at top speed. 

“HIT. HER. WITH. YOUR. CLAWS!” Catra shouted back, sighing as she realized that she  _ was _ going to have to fight Lonnie today. She doubted Adora had been given much food since Hordak captured her, and whoever was going to fight her would need to be in tip-top shape. 

Catra stepped away from the wall, her claws unsheathing as Scorpia ran past her and into the chamber. It began to glow green, and she knew that she didn’t have much time. 

Lonnie crouched in front of her, eyes shifting between Catra and Adora. “Looks like both of you decided to leave your family behind.”

“I’m bringing my family with me.” Catra informed her. Lonnie looked a little hurt by that, her electric spear cackling with the movement as it dropped down a couple of inches. Soon, she re-hardened, her muscles tensing. 

“Catra, it’s getting ready to start automatically,” Adora shouted. It didn’t matter whether or not you activated it if you waited long enough; the process would start on its own once you had input the settings.

“If that’s how you really feel,” Lonnie said, and jumped. 

Catra crouched down and braced herself for impact. Instead, a hand wrapped around her upper arm, and she suddenly found herself standing in the chamber with the rest of the crew. Lonnie turned towards them quickly, rage distorting her features as the door shut behind them.

“Hey, are you okay?” Adora asked, lightly touching Catra’s shoulder.

Catra looked up, sharply, into Adora’s bright blue eyes. God, the  _ relief  _ that she felt was  _ overwhelming _ . Her muscles quivered as she raised a hand up to Adora’s face, her fingers ghosting softly along her skin. Adora’s breath quickened, and her pupils expanded.

“Now that I know you’re safe,” Catra breathed, “I’m okay, yeah.”

“Guys, we need to move on!” Bow said, snapping them out of it. Catra shook her head as she took back her hand, turning towards the now-open second door and sprinting towards it. Adora’s footsteps were a comfort behind her. 

It didn’t take long until they were out, and Entrapta was exactly where she needed to be (for once in her life). She sat across two skiffs, keeping them together with the sides of her hair as she waited for their party. 

Catra boarded the left, grabbing the steering wheel. She turned towards Adora. “You get the right one! Left when I say left, right when I say right. I don’t think it would be a good idea to separate.”

“It would make us a smaller target.” Adora pointed out. 

“It would make it easier to capture us if these go down.” Catra retorted. Adora didn’t argue with that point, and Catra assumed it was because she knew that she wouldn’t get a delayed execution next time she was in the Horde’s clutches. 

Bow and Glimmer climbed onto the skiff behind Adora, and Scorpia behind her. Entrapta had one foot on each. Catra fired hers up and Adora did beside her. 

“Up!” She said, leading them into the sky. 

For a few seconds, Catra thought that they were definitely in the clear. Then, she heard the distinctive sound of lasers charging, and cursed under her breath. 

“Uh, is now a good time to activate this?” Scorpia asked. Catra turned back to see that she was holding the remote for the explosives in her claw.

“You mean you  _ haven’t _ ?” Catra questioned, eyes widening. 

~~~

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Entrapta asked, putting together the last of the nine bombs. “Someone could get hurt. And you will be burning your last bridges here.”

“You really think I could go back after helping She-Ra escape?” Catra asked, almost laughing at the idea. “You don’t know the Horde as well as you think.”

“You’re a wonderful strategist and the only one who’s made even a mildly successful stab at Brightmoon. I don’t think you realize how valuable you are.” Entrapta argued. Catra rolled her eyes, but secretly enjoyed the praise.

“Say,” Scorpia interrupted, “How are we gonna get these things into position?” 

“That,” Catra said, picking up the finished prototype and putting it into Scorpia’s hands, “Will be part of your job. You’ll put them in strategic locations nobody should be in when the execution is taking place.”

“What if someone  _ is _ there?” Scorpia asked, worried. 

“That’s why you’re in charge of this.” Catra said, calmly. “If people are there, put it somewhere else. I know you don’t want to seriously hurt anyone.”

~~~

Scorpia pressed the button, and a few seconds followed where the air was dead. Then,  _ Boom! _

It echoed through the air as bombs began to detonate, their sounds overlapping one another. The sound of charging lasers was briefly drowned out, and Catra felt a sense of triumph as she fought the urge to turn around and watch her old home burn. 

It would be so  _ satisfying _ . 

“Did that lose em?” Catra asked. 

“Erm, some of them.” Entrapta answered, clinging to the two skiffs’ rails. “To the left!”

Catra and Adora immediately swerved, barely avoiding a direct hit. The laser barely grazed Catra’s skiff, leaving a nasty black chip in the surface. 

At least they weren’t set to kill. Probably. 

“The right, THE RIGHT!” Entrapta shrieked, and Catra felt the skiffs pull to the right before she even started. The two vehicles rubbed up against each other as Catra fell behind, not turning as far right. 

“Head in the game, you can do this!” Adora hissed. “ _ We _ can do this!”

Another explosion, delayed reaction, sounded behind them. Catra heard the sound of a skiff behind them turning around, and she hoped that there was only one. 

“Why are they leaving?” Glimmer asked, confused. 

“They think that someone’s still at the base, attacking.” Adora answered for her. God, Catra had missed hanging out with someone who understood battle strategy. The only one who was on her level in the Horde was Hordak himself. And he wasn’t exactly an exquisite conversationalist. 

The sound of a laser charging came again, faster this time, and Catra and Adora both reacted without communicating. They moved the skiffs in opposite directions, Entrapta shrieking as her legs spread in either direction. A laser fired between her legs, missing the skiffs entirely. They came back together, and the bump rattled Catra. 

“We can’t keep dodging.” She said. “We have to find a way to lose him.”

Adora looked ahead and saw the pipe the same time she did. The pipe that had taken out every skiff rider at one point or another; it was infamous, and the soldier in pursuit likely couldn’t see it past them. 

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Adora questioned.

“Duck when we say to.” Catra announced in response. The rest of the crew nodded, and Catra and Adora honed in on the Pipe of Doom. 

Sweat began to bead on Catra’s neck as they got closer, both of them slowing down in order to let the other rider catch up as much as possible. They were close now, too close for comfort. Every cell in Catra was screaming to call it, but she couldn’t jump the gun on this, couldn’t duck too early and risk him having time to react. 

“Now!” Catra spat, immediately dropping. The pipe still grazed her hair on the way down. There was a thud behind them, and she turned to grin at Adora. 

The last walls of the Horde were just a few yards in front of them, and they raised the skiff’s height together as they approached. They sailed over the wall, and Catra felt shock roll through her. 

She was… really out. She had done it. She had  _ left the Horde _ . 

She wished she could go back and tell her younger self that this was how it would end. That she would rise through the ranks, prove herself, defeat Shadow Weaver despite the years of abuse and stab Hordak in the back saving her girlfriend. ‘ _ Bitch, it DOES get better _ ’, she’d tell herself. 

“Okay, I think we can separate now.” She announced. Adora was looking at her, her eyes glossed over in the light of the setting sun. Her blonde hair was waving in the wind, painted orange by the light. 

“Hey Entrapta?” Adora asked, softly. “Do you think you could take this one over?” 

“I think I could fly Rochelle, yes.” Entrapta said, her hair unwinding from Catra’s skiff as she hopped fully onto Adora’s. Adora released the controls and hopped over onto Catra’s, a hand coming out to steady herself using the guard rail. 

“I, uh, think I’ll go with them. That one looks hugable.” Scorpia said, pointing to Bow. 

“I’m very hugable.” Bow confirmed. 

Scorpia climbed onto their skiff as the two parted ways; not too awful far, but far enough to give Catra and Adora a little bit of privacy. Catra felt Adora’s arms wrap around her, and she melted as Adora buried her face into Catra’s neck. 

“Thank you.” Adora said, softly. 

“I was going to leave anyway.” Catra informed her. “You just gave me a convenient excuse.”

“Yeah, well.” Adora said, voice a little higher than usual. “I hope you aren’t too tired from that escape attempt. Because, uh, almost dying has made me feel an end-of-the-world kinda horny.”

Catra turned to see that her face was as red as the sky. 

“Have you been practicing talking about sex without stuttering?” She teased. 

“Shut up!” Adora growled, pushing her lightly. 

Catra laughed. She paused, thinking for a moment, before turning around to face Adora. 

“Hold the controls straight.” She instructed. Adora’s hands went automatically to the steering behind her, doing as she was told. There wasn’t anything out here for them to hit until they got to the whispering woods, so Catra figured they would be fine. 

She grabbed Adora’s face in both of her hands, pulling it towards her. She pressed their lips together, relaxing as she curled her tail around Adora’s leg. Adora gasped into her mouth and Catra chuckled, one of her hands raising to tangle in her hair. Adora let out a moan, and Catra’s body felt hot. 

_ Oh,  _ how she’d  _ missed _ this. Adora was so easily flustered. 

“GUYS!” Glimmer’s voice cut through the haze, and Catra turned around. She saw that they had lost a significant amount of altitude and grabbed the controller back from Adora, pulling them up.

“Sorry.” Adora shouted back. 

“I swear to God I will make PDA illegal if you two can’t keep your hands to yourselves long enough to fly yourselves to the forest.” She threatened. 

Catra rolled her eyes. 

“Don’t worry, she doesn’t mean it.” Adora teased, sticking her tongue out at Glimmer. “Her and Bow do stuff like that all the time.”

“They almost crash?”

“... Point taken.” Adora said. 

“But hey,” Catra said, “We’ll have plenty of time to show each other  _ lots _ of  _ private _ affection once we get to Brightmoon.”

“And we can go back to the First Ones’ planet.” Adora pointed out. Catra felt excitement flash through her at the idea. Their time together there had gotten her through those lonely nights. 

“Will we dance in the ballroom?” Catra teased.

“We can do whatever you want in the ballroom.” Adora said, surprising her with a seductive tone. 

“I’m looking forward to it.” Catra said, leaning back against her. And she was. 

Because she had left the Horde. But for the first time in a long time, she felt like she was headed  _ home _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy She-Ra day! T-minus 1 hour boiiii  
> I also wanted to give a big shout out to everyone who stuck with this fic and especially to those who commented every chapter. You guys really rock and I wouldn't write nearly as much fic if there weren't people like you to read it <3  
> Have a nice one yall!

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE leave a comment or kudos!  
> Also, if you'd like to keep up with my original writing adventures, you can follow my writing blog @Carterrowanne on tumblr. I plan to write a YA novel over the summer and then publish it on wattpad, so it would be free to access! I also might start an email list soon.


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